Another Used Year.

I don't understand the whole New Year's concept. It's simply an arbitrary day that we decide should somehow change our lives. I don't understand it because every day on the calendar starts a new year from the previous one before and I celebrate it as a new beginning; I don't get drunk, light off fireworks or take off the next day, but have found that subtler course corrections don't require such drastic measures.

It must be hard to only be able to make resolutions once a year. What if you make a mistake on January 2nd? Do you have to wait another 364 days to right that mistake?

My New Year's Eve was spent with my daughters. I was supposed to drop them off at grandma's and go to a killer party. My life is not that simple. Lizzy was pale as a ghost and was sick to her stomach, so last minute I had to stay home. Just me, the girls and a 2lb shrimp cocktail ring that was frozen solid.

At first I wasn't happy about it, but sitting on the couch with my daughters flipping between the multitude of New Year's Eve programs turned out to be a great family evening. We talked, laughed and enjoyed listening to the various musical performances. The funniest moment of the night was watching New Kids On The Block and Back Street Boys perform. These bands sucked twenty years ago when their only talent was dancing and having their voices digitized and regurgitated into the nausea inducing cat vomit they called music. Now they were just sad looking old men who had no talent. The voice processor was gone and they might have broken a hip at any moment during a poor rendition of the Macarena. My eldest daughter laughed the loudest, “Daddy, I danced to their music when I was three and it wasn't new back then.”. Yeah, I should probably feel pity for these guys, but my parent instincts kicked in and I explained to my children about living in the past and the sad repercussions that it could have. The humorous performance in front of us was a prime example.

We continued watching and talking and laughing. That was until I saw Dick Clark. I don't want to sound mean but it actually shook me to hear him talk. Dick was a golden voice. He “was” New Year's Eve. In my younger mind, he was a constant that would never change. Seeing him struggle with the words, I realized, even the seemingly timeless have to eventually succumb to the years. There is only one constant in life. I felt old. Emily saw the sadness as I watched him and I explained to her that Dick Clark was never supposed to age. My first memories of New Year's Eve were of him hosting. He was born to do it. In my mind he was the only one who should or would ever do it.

That thought was interrupted quickly as various other music acts performed. I watched the ball drop. I listened to people explain their once a year resolutions. I thought, I really don't have any resolutions right now, but maybe I'll come up with some tomorrow, the next day or some other new day during the rest of my life.