Happy 2009

When I was a child New Years Eve always involved a party, always at our house. Attended by a variety of aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, neighbours, a house full of people and no one telling us kids what to do. All my closest cousins would stay over with their parents which meant a lot of kids running around having a wonderful time and a lot of drunk but very cheerful adults. At some point during the evening one of my favourite uncles would get me up to dance with him, always an enthusiastic but not very well co-ordinated rock and roll jive (This happened at every family party right up until I was in my late teens and despite the growing embarrassment that came with growing up and feeling awkward I have only fond memories of it).

As midnight approached someone would be grabbed and ushered out of the house in order to be the first foot, the first person entering the house after midnight. When the clock struck 12 (Big Ben on the TV) there would be lots of kissing and hugging all round, the first foot would be allowed back in and then we’d all join hands and sing Auld Lang Syne. After midnight most of the adults and sometimes the kids would visit a variety of neighbour’s houses having a drink in each one. The party would continue all night (or for us kids until we fell asleep) and it always seemed to me that a good time was had by all. New Year’s Day would start with a fried breakfast followed by a trip to the beach to blow the cobwebs (or hangovers) away. I have excellent memories of my childhood New Years Eve’s, they were predictable, safe, fun and full of love.

The parties were always a way for our parents to get together and celebrate without having to worry about babysitting so when we all grew up the parties stopped. The kids all went of to celebrate New Year in their own ways and our parents found themselves free to do whatever they wanted which is as it should be. As an adult celebrating New Year has never really lived up to those parties, there have been some good celebrations and quite a lot of bad ones. New Year’s eves that I can’t remember and ones I would really rather forget, but the past few years have been the best since those parties because I’ve been with my beautiful wife. And last night’s was the certainly best so far.

So what did we do? What made it so good? Well we stayed at home, just the two of us, alone. We retired to the bedroom early, indulged ourselves in a bit of BDSM, power play and hot sex followed by a nice cup of tea and the episode of Coronation Street we’d recorded. At midnight we were tucked up in bed watching the firework display over London on TV and listening to the celebrations in the street with a small alcoholic beverage and big smiles. It was special because we were being true to who we are and we were together.

Happy New Year – may it bring you joy.