As I mentioned in a previous column, I had a milestone birthday in 2013.
Turning 30 made me think about how things change as you get older. Don’t get me wrong, 30 is not old, however, for me, it seems like a big transition. Moving out of my 20s means I definitely can’t use the “I was young and stupid” excuse anymore. And the nights of going to sleep at 3 a.m. and getting up for work the next morning are a thing of the past.
Another, more recent event that proved how “things aren’t like they used to be” was last week’s New Year’s Eve celebration.
When you are a kid, New Year’s Eve is an excuse to stay up late and you get to drink sparkling apple juice out of a champagne flute. You can run around with your cousins or parents’ friends’ kids while the adults drink, laugh, and watch the ever-famous New Year’s Eve countdown with Dick Clark. You tried your hardest to stay awake until midnight and sometimes you did, sometimes you ended up sleeping soundly behind a couch while the festivities continued around you.
In your early teens, your parents might have given you a bit more freedom. Maybe you could go to a friends’ house to sleep over. You could watch movies all night in your pajamas and their parents might even let you have a sip of champagne.
Then the late teens come around and that is the age ringing in the New Year is made for. You are old enough to go to a bar/pub/club and you take full advantage. I will leave what can happen on alcohol-fuelled New Year’s nights to your imagination (or memory) but you get the picture. The drink of choice here tends to be anything that has alcohol in it.
In your mid-twenties, if you are anything like me, you are still going strong on New Year’s Eve. You and a bunch of friends make plans for a big night out. You pay an extravagant amount of money to get into a lounge and buy a new dress/jewelry/shoes for the occasion. There are still a number of (incredibly over-priced) libations involved and the day after you are not moving as quickly as you would like.
Then there is the late twenties, in my experience, New Year’s celebrations move to house parties. Everyone (or almost everyone) is married or in a long-term relationship and many have just purchased their first houses/apartments. You have fun with your friends and their kids, but you are much more responsible. Maybe you are a designated driver this year or you have a few glasses and stay the night in your friends’ beautiful new guest room. These are the years that the party starts to look a lot like the ones you remember your parents hosting when you were a tike.
And now the 30-and-after party: This celebration is much more low key. Maybe you share it with just your spouse or a few close friends. Although there is champagne for midnight and you share a couple bottles of “the good wine” that you have been saving for a special occasion, it is fairly casual and you find that it is no problem to get up the next morning for New Year’s Day brunch. (Remember in your teens/early twenties when you were absolutely flabbergasted that anyone could wake up and function before noon on Jan.1?)
The way I celebrate New Year’s Eve may have changed over the years but one thing has stayed the same – I have always been lucky enough to share the experience with people I love. Whether we were dancing the night away, sipping martinis or enjoying a multi-course meal, we rang in the New Year together.
My New Year’s Eve celebrations have changed from wild nights in a club with a group of friends and hundreds of strangers to casual celebrations at home with the handful of people I couldn’t live without and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Happy New Year, Rocky View County.
