My Father’s Favorite Holiday Was New Year’s Eve

My father loved New Year’s Eve best of all.

Because on this day, everyone else shared the sentiment of what was true for him all the other days of the year: that tomorrow, we all get a clean slate.

A chance to dump last year’s trash.

A chance for more good luck and good fortune.

A chance for a new adventure or a new friend or to see the most beautiful sunset ever …

My father passed away in late October.

I know the standard thing to do is to share that in real time, but for whatever reasons, I didn’t or couldn’t.

And for all of you who have lost family members and loved ones, you know that holidays can be hard. And the thought of making it through New Year’s Eve day without talking to him brings on my tears.

But I can honor him and wish you all a Happy New Year in a beautiful convergence.

I wish you the spirit of hope and having a fresh page … those things were in my dad’s marrow. He was a guy who was optimistic like no one I’ve ever met, who never met a problem that would swamp him. Who never got so far down that he felt irreversibly stuck.

As we pass into 2025, may you too find your inner optimist and your sense of setting off to something or somewhere new.

With love, Margaret