At the Stroke of Midnight

I will stay awake tonight. I Will stay awake tonight. I'm going to do my best to be awake one more time to hear ...

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
in days of old lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

The Scottish poet, Robert Burns, penned these lines in 1788, although the sentiment was borrowed from other earlier writers. It was paired with a Scots folk tune and was sung off and on at New Years thereafter, due to the sentiment and the rhetorical question -- should we forget old friends, or should we remember them?

In 1929, the era of mass communication and radio, cemented "Auld Lang Syne" as the song for the stroke of midnight when the Canadian band leader Guy Lombardo played it at the nationally carried live broadcast from the Roosevelt Room in New York City. Thereafter, from 1930-1976, it was nationally broadcast from the Waldorf Astoria.

Old acquaintances. Those of us in our "maturity" have many acquaintances which we have acquired over the years and, even though we may have not seen them for decades, we carry them in our minds; some, we carry in our hearts.

This week, Joan and I visited a cinematographer that I worked with in the 1960's. We had not seen one another in 30 years, and yet it was as if that were yesterday as we recalled fun times together and consoled each other over tragedies in passage.

How precious and delicious that process is -- revisiting, recalling, remembering, laughing, crying -- together.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

May you and yours, Dear Reader, have a joyous and prosperous new year, for auld lang syne!

Cheers!!!