 |
| Dorothy and two grandchildren celebrate New Year's Eve 2016. |
This was typed originally on a Mac Classic.
Ammon Stark 20 September 1999
New Year's Eve
Our family’s New Year's Eve ritual brings back childhood memories of the paper strips, the brown paper bags, ñ the old clock, the wood stove, and the sound of the pots and pans.
Throughout the year, our family collects old newspapers. While most families either throw them away or recycle them, we hold onto them as if they were old pictures of your grandparents. We gather them, put them into piles and place them into the garage where they collect dust and spider webs.
Throughout the year these piles of newspaper get larger and larger until they look like big city skyscrapers. Just as skyscrapers loom out of nowhere, our stacks of newspapers stick out like a sore thumb. However, they are treasured in our family because of the memories they will bring.
There is another important item that our family saves throughout the year. PAPER BAGS!!! For as long as I can remember, my mother collected and saved brown paper grocery bags from different supermarkets. Do you remember watching movies w here prized possessions are kept inside safes or money vaults? Well, we keep our paper bags inside an old cupboard or in the pantry. All of them flattened together to make room for the next one. Each paper bag is fighting against the other to have the opportunity to be used in the New Year's Eve party instead of for trash. This is why when you go to get a paper bag some will slip through your fingers and fall to the ground. Then instead of just bending down and picking it up, you take the easy way and reach over and grab another one. Meanwhile as you walk away, if you listen carefully, you can hear the other paper bags letting their breath out. Often times I wonder if all things are happy or disappointed when they are chosen for a certain job.
For example, I remember a commercial about two Dalmatian puppies. One chosen to go live at a fire station. In this commercial the one who is left out is disappointed while the other one is snick ering because he was chosen. Later in the commercial the Dalmatian pups are grown and the "unchosen" one was riding in a buggy for Budweiser. Well, the fire station "chosen" dog hid from the "unchosen" one who was now working for Budweiser. I wonder if it is the same with these paper bags.
These paper bags and newspapers help us remember childhood memories of holidays. While most families are able to get together during the holidays, our family has a hard time. I have always dreamed what it would be like to have all my family together. I know that my mother would be happy to see all of us kids together and enjoying everyone. When the holidays come only some of the family comes home to celebrate it together. But those who do come have the memories of their childhood brought back to them.
The holidays are finally here. Christmas is over and we wait to celebrate the new year. On New Year's Eve we always have a really nice supper. And as always there is eggnog. No matter what holiday it is, there is always eggnog. Although those who prepare the meal take a lot of time, nobody ever seems to remember what they ate for dinner. Basically the supper isn't what's important, but what will happen in a few hours is.
newspapers. Then you hear the sounds of the paper being torn. Almost like the sound of lightning in a thunderstorm.
 |
| I thought I had lost the Mac Classics I had, but I found them under a desk. |
After you have torn them into shreds, you pack them like sardine s into the paper bags. Sometimes the paper bag tears from having too many paper strips inside. It is always interesting to see the different types of grocery bags. The little nephew next to you may have a Save Mart bag while you have a Grocery Warehouse bag. Then others may have Vons, Albertsons, or the old Safeway's bag that have almost disappeared.
After dinner we always watch a movie. It may be a James Stewart or a John Wayne , or any other older movie that your parents love to watch. My favorite was always John Wayne or Audrey Hepburn. Occasionally we would watch Bob Hope or some other movie. The movie always kept the excitement down for the little kids. It kept their mind off of asking their parents or another adult what time it was.
There is an old clock that we have that sits on the mantle. Mom and dad have already set the clock four hours ahead, so it's now about 11:30 p.m. by the clock. It's really only 7:30. That's so they don't have to stay up until midnight. When the movie is over it is only a short time later until the New Year. At least that's what I always thought, until I got old enough to realize that my Mom and Dad set the clock ahead. We watched the hands closely. When the big hand reaches the last minute the count down begins.
By this time everything is ready. The pots and pans have been found. The family members each have their bag of paper strips. The clock screams out that the new year is here with it's chimes. And everyone starts to bang the pots and pans together, creating a band of it's own. Children's laught er, the old wood stove, with its smell of pinewood being burned float through the air.
Seconds later the living room is filled with paper strips everywhere. Everyone is throwing the paper up. The pots and pans are creating different tones. The cheers and yelling of "It's a New Year" echo through the house. This is the time when the little kids collect the paper and make their mountains to burrow through like groundhogs. Or maybe they pretend it's money and that they are Disney's Uncle Scrooge. Their dreams come true as they pretend that they are rich and can swim through and hide in the mountains of imagined dollar bills. It only lasts a short while but the memories of the blackened hands from the ink of the Newspapers and mountains of paper, the wood stove and the clock will last forever.
We didn't have anyone here this 2018/2019 New year's eve. It was kind of quiet and we went to bed by 10:30 ... Oh.....but we usually did that anyway.
