A Very Happy New Year for Me

For the first time in my life, in my whole life, I spent New Year’s Eve alone.

My husband and one of my sons were away on a short trip. My other son and I couldn’t accompany them as we had to work and so, of course, he went on the town that night. For the record, they all didn’t up and ditch me – far from it. It was just a matter of situations being what they were.

I have had the fortune and blessing of having family around me, all times of the year, year after year. As for being alone on New Year’s Eve, specifically? Not once in all my something-something years.

For spending time with family and friends, and connecting with everyone possible, Christmas is the ‘big’ event for me. But New Year’s Eve? Well, sorry to say, as exciting as it all is, it’s not a ‘holiday’ I hold near and dear to my heart. In the early years when I was young and wild it was a big deal, but not anymore.

Yes it’s nice to be able to ‘ring in the new year’ with loved ones, and I get a kick out of saying ‘see you next year’ to everyone I meet. And yes I am thankful I even have family I can wish Happy New Year to at the stroke of midnight, if I can stay up that long, that is. But really, can we get the year we have just spent 364 days struggling with over so I can get to bed and start another one?

So after my son and I gorged ourselves on Chinese takeout, out he rushed in his New Year’s duds with a waft of a cologne in his wake, and I donned my own New Year’s finery – my jammies. I had a two-and-a-half hour writing marathon, then dove into the pile of DVD’s and magazines I borrowed from the library as a reward for writing so hard! Contraband chocolate I had stashed away for such an occasion beckoned me, and the only person I talked to all night was the cat, where I ‘kindly’ asked her to stop snoring as it was getting on my nerves.

And I was happy.

Many might say ‘Oh, how boring! You’re young! Your kids are getting older! Live it up!’

I did wonder, however, if at some point in the night I might wallow in self pity at being alone. I did wonder, also, if I was REALLY going to last to midnight (I can barely stay up past 10 o’clock most nights, as is). I did wonder, also, if was going to throw up from all the chocolate I inhaled.

I didn’t wallow, I didn’t throw up, and I went to bed at 12:20am. Happy and satisfied with my accomplishments of the evening, I knocked back a glass of Alka Seltzer and with the phone near me in case my son called, I fell into a blissful sleep on the couch (it’s comfier than my bed). The cat snored on.

I don’t do resolutions, but I do set goals for the year – things I would like to try to accomplish. At one point in the night, through my sugar-rush high, I thought about those goals. There were many I accomplished, and some I didn’t. For a moment I wallowed, but then stopped.

Instead of drowning my sorrows in yet another round of Alka Seltzer, I realized how much I can be happy for. I can be happy for what I DID accomplish this past year, I am happy and fortunate I have a family who WILL be coming home at some point, AND, for the first time in two years, my Christmas and New Year’s wasn’t shrouded in anticipation of upcoming surgeries (spring of 2012 and 2013 were met with hernia surgeries – no fun).

The next morning while my son was safe and sound in his own bed, I stole away in search of a Starbuck’s (yes, I did find one open), and had my first coffee of 2014 by a local lake. I later worked on some writing, made a second batch of cranberry jelly (you can never have enough!), and readied my house for the return of the rest of my family.

It was a very happy new year for me.


Happy New Year Everyone! Thank you to all for always stopping by and reading!

Lisa