A New Year

It’s that time of year again … the brilliant, glowing ball will make its slow descent in the skies above Times Square, marking yet another new year. This time, it’s 2010. A decade into the millennium, already? Where did the years disappear to?

I remember New Year’s Eve 1999 with fondness. My Dad was determined to make it a memorable year, so he planned a trip for us to the greatest city in the world, to watch the ball drop up close and personal.

The trip was unforgettable, the perfect NYC wintertime escape. We splurged, staying at the world famous Waldorf Astoria hotel. We saw Les Miserables on Broadway and dined at Tavern on the Green, the magical Central Park legend, with its gaudy Tiffany décor and thousands of twinkling lights. We watched the ball drop, in chilly temperatures, camped out in Times Square with thousands of our fellow men.

Sadly, Les Miserables ended its decades-long Broadway run, soon after. And now, the legendary Tavern is closing, bankruptcy’s victim. And these days, spending NYE in Times Square is an altogether different experience, post 9/11.

I will never forget that trip to NYC. We saw and experienced the magic, we partook in some of the most legendary sights and scenes the city has to offer … some of which exist no longer. Some of which will never be the same again.

This year, I will toast to Tavern on the Green, and to times gone by, places lost forever and irreplaceable memories.

Here’s to 2010, and making new memories, to endure the duration, and outlast the wheels of time.

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