Come this December 31st, most of us will have had more than enough
of familytogetherness. So it's only natural that we often opt to ring in
the New Year not with relatives but with friends. And it's only fair. For
the last two months, through Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas, our
friends generally have played second fiddle to our blood relations. But
for most of us, friends have become family, too.
Whether you jostle your way through Times Square, sip bubbly at a
black-tie gala or fall asleep watching Dick Clark on TV, you usually
choose to do it with friends, because they represent your adult
independence, your identity beyond parents and siblings. On New Year's
Eve, our lives brim with possibility, new beginnings and resolutions, and
friends are entwined with each change we make. Our families are, in so
many respects, our past; our friends are our present and future.
New Year's Eve 1999, however, promises to 'be unique. We'll be
turning the corner on a new millenium--a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence
that impels us to take a searching look back even as we look ahead
Elaborate plans for blowout bashes are already underway, presenting
a potential dilemma for eager celebrants. For many of us, such a
momentous occasion seems to belong as much to family as friends. And the
necessity of choosing between one or the other feels altogether wrong, an
abandonment of our moorings at the exact moment when we plunge into the
unknown. As we prepare to usher in the millenium, we might hope to join
our past and future seamlessly by toasting that New Year's Eve with
family and friends, together.
PHOTO (COLOR): New Year's Eve
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