Every language is rich with excuses for folly: "Such is life," "C'est la vie," "Asi est la vida." Mark Twain contributed one with uncharacteristic sentimentality: "Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been." Casey Stengel, "the ol' perfessor" remembered as philosopher as well as baseball genius, said it as well as anyone: "The trick is growing up without growing old."
Only a decade ago, my eldest grandson sat on my lap at our New Year's Eve bash as "Baby New Year." The oldest man at the table on that occasion is gone now. This year, there are new babies and "new olds." The champagne will sparkle, the hats and balloons will provoke the usual smiles, we'll bask in the warmth of friendship and family, and the evening will remind us of the memories for which we'll give thanks.
I'm thankful to live in the most generous country in the world, for the men and women who put their lives on the line to change the equation in the Middle East to make the world safer for everybody. I'm thankful for the way Americans open their hearts and pocketbooks when hurricanes and floods strike here and tsunamis and earthquakes strike abroad. I'm thankful for the possibilities spread out for the succeeding generation, whose ambition and education will take them to places we have not dreamed of.
I'm thankful for my grandsons' charter school, where the school play the other night was an original rock and roll musical production of "The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf," where children from 6 to 12 sang and danced with talent and abilities they didn't know they had. I'm thankful that the melting pot that makes ours the greatest nation on earth is still bubbling, borne out by the names of the cast: Nnamdi, Miles, Akili, Sharya, Noah, Kamaria, Olin, Xiomara, Maggie, Hulai, Clara, Talis, Kate, Kimberly and Khamila. (What a country!)
I'm thankful for my cup of fresh-brewed coffee in the morning, for the quiet streets before the sun rises, for flashes of inspiration and for what the poet calls "the hidden soul of harmony." This, too, will be a year to remember. Bring on the new one.