And I'm Still Writing '13 On My Checks

So D2 and I lay in her bed, reminiscing about New Year's past...at least those since '92-'93, when she was here. We went through the post Hurricane Andrew years, and talked about the big party we had in '99-'2000. At the stroke of the new millenium, once we knew the world wouldn't end, D2 and I jumped into the pool at our last house. We closed on our current house in December of '00, and we took a few bottles of champagne here to toast the new year. As we looked around the spacious new place, none of us could quite believe we were privileged to live in such a home. That was 13 years ago... My Mom was hilarious when she visited. The house was just too daunting for her. She saw the upstairs once, and after that confined herself to the tiniest bedroom, where she felt secure like a dog in a crate, and the kitchen area. 2014 is the first year I'm an orphan. Mom died last April. Her absence struck me, as the clock turned the year. We rang out the old rather well. First I got a greetings text from Norman, happily touring Israel with 2/3 of his sons. Once I knew the year turned without armageddon, it lightened the mood. Wifey and I drove the man Buick to Captain's Tavern. It was packed. For maybe the 3rd or 4th time since Wifey and I met during the Reagan Administration, she ordered a drink -- diet coke and rum. She had a second! Wow -- things CAN change. Our fun friend crazy Sheryl, who visits yearly from Boston, somehow scored a table for 20, and we sat and kept drinking and eating. Wifey got a lobster tail that looked like it was from the set of a Godzilla movie. I had scallops. We sat next to my old law school friend Lisa, and her fun and charming boyfriend Dave, an Irish guy from Pittsburgh. The restuarant was packed, noisy, and festive. It was a terrific send off to '13. We decamped to Gayle and Jay's house, in Galloway Glenn. They host each year, and this is the second time for Wifey and me. They have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, like our spoiled granddog, and Wifey was in heaven. Jay joked that he lost his dog. We kissed at midnight, and then retired into the living room, where Dr. Dean, a cardiologist who lives in our 'hood, played show tunes on the piano. My GI doc Neil was in attendance, with his sultry wife Babs. Neil counted probably about 10 of us there as his patients, and the Miami Beach born and bred guy joked about recognizing us only from behind... We were all empty nesters, and we shared tales of college graduations for our kids, their new jobs, and in some cases recent weddings. Dean played on and on. We sang along to "Sunrise, Sunset." The Ds texted greetings --D1 from a party Downtown, and D2 from South Beach. Wifey and I got home around 2 am. We were proud to stay awake. And the night wasn't over: D2 texted that her party bus would arrive at the base house, Scott's, aroudnd 3, and she and her friends were probably North of the legal limit. So Wifey went and fetched 4 college seniors, who are now scattered around our house, sleeping well into 2014... D2 heads back to Gville tomorrow, and then Friday Wifey and I celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary. She and I met 3 decades ago. Time, as Alan Parsons wrote, truly does flow like a river, to the sea...