new year 2014

Another new year. Everybody on television is running specials about looking back. So thought I’d do some looking back of my own.

I miss some things, not just from last year, but from several previous years.

Like being able to pick up a hitchhiking soldier; these days nobody in their right mind picks up anybody with their thumb out, no matter what they’re wearing. The good news is, soldiers no longer hitchhike.

I miss kids who say ma’am and sir. Sometime shortly after Dr. Spock published his book, spanking went away, along with teaching kids to be respectful. Coincidentally, I quit teaching school for that very reason. Just couldn’t stomach one more irate parent walking into my classroom telling me who was actually at fault for their lazy ass kid not being able to read and my not being willing to put up with their foul mouth vocabulary that made even the sailor in me blush, and then that parent threatening to “take me out” if I didn’t change the failing grade. The good news is, my grandchildren are not among these.

I miss family dinners. These days with hubby working hours that would have killed him when he was younger (ha!!), we rarely ever eat a meal at the same time. The good news is that I have developed a whole series of food items that do well when reheated. Takes longer to cook in the first place, but then, I live to spend six hours a day in the kitchen. Well, maybe not, but might as well be that way. The good news is we no longer eat out, I’m shocked at how much it costs for someone else to cook something for me to eat. Even Chinese food and pizza are, on the whole, cheaper and way healthier; at least I know what’s in the stuff I put on my table. Er, make that the kitchen counter and the stovetop.

I miss putting up and taking down a Christmas tree. No one comes here to celebrate the holidays, even though they would, but Jim doesn’t believe in Christmas, so I figure why bother. Last time I had a tree was when he was in Iraq, and then I actually had two, the huge one with lights and 45 million ornaments in the living room and the smaller all angel tree on the chess table in the upstairs living area/office; both fake. Can’t remember the last time there was a live tree in our house; well, ok, belay that, it was probably when we lived in Hampstead, and the first year the cat came to live with us. But I still miss the smell of fresh pine or cedar in the house for about two weeks. Sadly, we no longer have a cat. But the good news is I no longer have to vacuum seventeen times to get rid of the dead needles. Even better news is I have discovered environmentally friendly room spray that comes pretty close to approximating the aroma. But the nostalgia for Christmas past was especially evident this year, with Denise’s live tree purchased from the Martin HS band.

Speaking of band. I miss music with lyrics I can understand. And are meaningful enough that I want to remember them. Enough said about this item.

I miss television where the new season started in September and continued through May, with repeats shown only in the three months of summer. Speaking of which, I miss television shows that don’t measure customer satisfaction by the number of rapes, bombings, murders, vehicle crashes, and explicit language phrases they can shove into 45 minutes; which, by the way, is about as long as programs seem to be these days, instead of the 52 minutes I remember from my younger days. And, by the way, same goes for commercials. And movies.

On the other hand. I don’t miss living from paycheck to paycheck (even though the stock market has done its best to totally erode our savings in the past ten years). At times I miss the years when the children were small, but I don’t miss having a child home sick from school, or emergency room visits for a broken bone or stitches; don’t get me wrong, I cherish the memories of when my children lived with me, but some things are better left in the past; like midnight attacks of diarrhea and/or projectile vomiting. I don’t miss having to depend on telegrams and telephones and snail mail to find out how someone is; facebook and twitter and Instagram and even good ol’ email changed all that. I miss going to Birmingham to visit my parents, but I am glad they are both at peace. I don’t miss having to move every year at the whim of the military mission. And I definitely don’t miss the years when hubby was in a combat zone.

So, with the dawn of a new year, upon looking back, I’ve decided while I wouldn’t trade the memories, I’m glad they are just that, and I look forward to making new ones this year.

As for new year’s resolutions? I definitely don’t miss those. I simply don’t need the pressure.