A bitter/sweet New Year...

One day until New Years Eve. I wonder in my mind what each of you will do that night. I think about everything that goes with New years Eve and how we celebrate it each year. A family of tradition, we gather at my mom and dad's house, as we have every year for as long as I can remember. Not drinkers normally, few us of if any will have a mixed drink or wine cooler. But there will be a smoked Turkey and Pinwheels along with a delicious cheese and hamburger dip. There will be potato chips and crackers and black olives and a huge assortment of sweets to nibble on through out the night. We will play some pinochle and board games. The kids will run and play and make noise to try their best to drown out the laughter and chatter of the adults. They will loose that battle as they do every year.
This year, there will be new faces as marriages have happened and babies were born and new relationships have begun. All of these faces will gather at Mom and Dad's and we will watch the Ball go down on the television. The count down will be called out by those that have not fallen asleep waiting for 2008 to become 2009. We will all hug and smile and wish each other the best of everything in the coming year. And I will have before then, found a few moments, locked in a bathroom or outside smoking a cigarette, thinking and remembering. I will say a silent prayer that God keeps watch over fools and children. I will ask him to set angels in every car that is driven by someone that forgot we don't drink and drive. I will think about those loved ones that are no longer with us. About the kiss I felt on my lips every New Years Eve for 25 years and i will try so hard to remember that touch. I will cry alone so that it doesn't effect anyone elses celebration. I will try as i do every year to remember what her voice sounds like. I will wonder why she had to go to heaven instead of staying here with me. I still needed her and still depended on this beautiful lady. A lady, stronger in her wheelchair and filled with pain then I was standing and without that pain.
I will bring in this new year, 2009, with family and friends and will laugh and smile and wonder, like everyone, what the year will bring. Will i finally see that #1 best seller with my name on it? Will i get a letter from a record publisher saying they want to buy my songs? Will we travel a little and will fishing be better this year. And I will thank God for the blessings of the year past and the blessings that will come. Knowing I have my parents still with me. They celebrate 75 years of life and 57 years of marriage. What a wonderful blessing that is. My family close by and more love than any one man ever deserved, especially this one.
I pray the best of the new year to each and every one of you. God Bless and keep you all safe. Always, Darrel