How Did You See In The New Year?

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Each year, at 11.45 p.m. on New Year's Eve, the bell ringers start to ring joyful New Year tunes on the church bells, up until it's time for the clock to strike midnight. They stop, and allow the chime, and then revert to the previous ringing, to bring in the New Year. On the first strike of twelve, the villagers are gathered in the Street, between the bottom of the church steps and the pub; they let off party poppers, and join hands for Auld Lang Syne. That finished, there's a big cheer and an echoing cry of "Happy New Year", followed by hugs and kisses all round. It's great for community spirit and even the youngsters have been brought up to join in. I love the way everybody gets together. Normally, prior to this, people will gather in the pub for a couple of drinks, and a bit of a party.. sometimes karaoke, and sometimes live music, but the best part of it is, people suddenly turn up whom you haven't seen for a while. Well, this year, the pub made it a private party, and charged a fixed price for all you could drink, and eat. Well, this is just not my scene. Naturally, the kids drink too fast, trying to exceed the amount they paid for their ticket, and things get a bit out of hand. I'm not into all that. When I have a drink, I like to relax, chat and take my time, so this year, I declined. Instead, I asked my next door neighbour round for nibbles and a couple of glasses of wine, which was very nice, and I put a bottle of bubbly in the fridge. At 11.30, approximately, we ambled down to the pub garden, and sat at a picnic table, with our bubbly.:) Lots of people came out of the pub... smokers, people just needing fresh air, and some even to listen to the bells. They stood around, some chatting with us. Then, when the bells paused for the chime, we all congregated on the street and did our bit. It wasn't until afterwards I noticed two people, young lads, standing in the street, whom I hadn't seen for some four years. Wayne and I, in particular, were the best of buddies, as when his girlfriend had committed suicide, and he needed to talk, the then pub landlady and I were the only ones who would listen to him when he needed some comfort. We became quite close... more like mother and son than anything else. We used to meet quite often for a game of darts, lunch and a drink at the pub, but, he'd moved to the coast about four years ago, to live with his girlfriend. The good news??? They are both back now, living in Burgess Hill, which is just about 41/2 miles from the village. I was overwhelmed to see him, and Jake, of course, but we weren't quite as close as Wayne and I. We chatted for a while, and he's doing quite well both in his career and life itself, which warms my heart some. Seeing people you thought were lost is a great thing to happen at the very beginning of a New Year, and I stayed down there for ages just chatting with people I hadn't seen for a while. So too, my neighbour... and we finally wandered back the 50 yards up the Street, at 1.40 a.m., tired, but happy. How was your welcoming of the New Year? Do you have a story to tell?