Ringing in the New

D2 and her friend and roomie Ashley decamped to their other roomie Cath's for NYE, D1 was in frosty Indiana, and Wifey and I headed to Captain's Tavern -- a place that is a throwback... Our friend Sheryl was visiting from Boston -- her native home and the place she's lived for 10 years, but Miami is still home to her. She keeps close a great circle of friends from her early mommy days, and put together the group. Wifey and I planned to eat at the Tavern, and then go to Dr. Dave and Maureen's house. Dr. Dave invited Wifey for drinks, but when Wifey mentioned this to Maureen -- she was uninvited. Apparently Maureen failed to give her approval for a party, and since all Dave does is earn all the family's income and support everyone -- he gets no say... So Wifey figured we'd just head home afterwards. My dear friend Vince was a last minute addition -- apparently one of the attendees, a CPA, died last week, and so couldn't attend, and Vince took his place. As we drank our cocktails, we toasted the poor bastard -- though we'd never met him. I sat next to my old law school friend Lisa and her boyfriend of 8 years. Lisa, who has a son D2's age as well as 2 older kids, is truly one of the mentschiest folks I know -- and we caught up on career and life tales since our graduation -- now nearly 27 years past. We had such a great time, we decided to accept the invite for the dessert party hosted by Gayle and Jay. We decamped to their lovely house in Galloway Glenn, and watched the Times Square and Big Orange drops and rises... Meanwhile, Sheryl -- always making deals and fixing folks up -- called her single friend and told her to high tail it to the party to meet the single guy. The friend did -- she was lovely -- and perhaps there will be a love connection going into the new year... One of the guests, Dr. Dean, was in attendance. He's our neighbor, and led us into the living room where he played Broadway show tunes, as we sang along. It was truly fun, and warm, and a great entry into 2013. Wifey and I didn't get home until 2:30 am! We always joke that all we hope to do on New Year's Eve is stay up until midnight. Well the hell with that. We daily see the slow end of life, through our nursing home resident father and mother, and I think in a strange way that's motivated us to stay as young as we can. We will NOT go to bed too early any more! We made plans to celebrate with the same group next year. Will all the couples be together? Will new bonds form? It ought to be a fine ride, and I, for one, look forward to it.