Happy New Year

I rang in 2009 in the best way I know last night. Eating remarkably good food, sipping very tasty beer and talking and laughing with a small group of very good friends.  I couldn't want for more.  I've known this particular batch of pals for over thirty years, enough time to have and raise children.  At one point in the evening, as my hosts teenage son and daughter said their goodbyes and headed out the door to their respective New Years gatherings, my friend and I turned to one another and smiled.  We were both calculating how much time has passed since those New Years party's when our kids played together and fell asleep cuddled in sleeping bags in his or my living room.  Or when New Years was a phone call to one another as we didn't want to venture out with very young kids. And now here they were, tall, handsome, lovely people doing their own things.  I love those moments. Yes, they tell us very loudly that time is moving on and we are aging.  But they are also wonderfully bittersweet markers of the good and natural passage of our lives.  Gentle reminders of how long you have been friends.  Of how blessed our lives are.
I hope you had as nice a night as we.  May 2009 be the best yet for you and yours.

Comments

[Bruce Froude]

Neil

We're just in the New Years party's with kids played together and being told to shut it down at 1 AM and hunker down in the sleeping bags phase. We're still smiling about the six boys, all under the age of 10, playing without a single fight or angry word the whole night. Happy New Year and all the best in 2009.

[mouseslb]

Health and Happyness to you and your family Neil.

[Jason Chamberlain]

Right back at you Neil.

[Catherine Carey]

While I spent new years with new friends, your blog post about friends, laughing and good eats captures my thoughts to a T.

Thanks!

I cited you on my blog, catherinecarey.wordpress.com.

Lovely thoughts.

[Laurence Cutner]

A very healthy, wealthy and happy New Year to you, Neil.