What will you be doing tonight at twelve o’clock?
“I mean, should old acquaintances be forgotten? Does it mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot?”
(Billy Crystal, “When Harry Met Sally”)
The song we have come to associate with the ending of a year and the beginning of a new year is “Auld Lang Syne.” It had its beginnings from a poem written in 1788 by a Scottish poet, Robert Burns. It is one of the most often sung songs by English speaking people throughout the world for forty-six years. This song was first played in 1929 at the Roosevelt Hotel and later at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City by Guy Lombardo and his orchestra.
“Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and days of o’lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for days of o’lang syne.”
Billy Crystal is one of my favorite comedians, actors, and writers. To Billy and everyone else, let me answer your question. No, no, old acquaintances and old happenings, old times and old places, should never be forgotten. There are things from our past and in previous New Year’s Eves I have never forgotten, nor will I; nor should they be.
So, on this December 31, 2013, just a few hours before the New Year, I can assure you, you are not forgotten, as well as others from my past. I wish you the best in 2014.