View From the Tenth Level

Sunday, January 01, 2006

When you’re single and it’s New Year’s Eve, it seems so important to be able to get out, join a party, and get that all-important New Year’s kiss. I remember the first time that I, as a single person, had to spend the evening at home alone. I felt devastated. Somehow, even though I knew my friends would be suffering from hangovers the next morning, I felt left out of the loop – on the fringe somewhere. Deep down, I 'knew' that I was being deprived of the future love-of-my-life by not meeting him at the stroke of midnight. Or so, that's how I felt at the time.

There's nothing more thrilling than going to bed at 10:30 pm while your teenaged sons go out to parties with their friends. At least I could indulge in sparkling grape juice and Gardetto's snacks (damn, I miss those!) My New Year's Eve consisited of browsing through the Victoria's Secret catalogue and changing the sheets on my bed.

Of course, they didn't ALL turn out to be that way. Boyfriends came and went. Sometimes I went to parties with my single friends. I even got engaged, although he left me to go skiing over the New Year holiday (back to the Gardetto's!) At least I had plenty of practise. Turns out that was symptomatic of our relationship. I quickly learned that I played second place to ski and dive excursions. We didn't stay engaged.

Now that I’m married to man who prefers me to just about anything else, every New Year’s Eve is a stay-at-home party. Last night my husband and I watched When Harry Met Sally and drank spumante to celebrate. Harry and Sally has become quite a tradition for us, not only because Harry proposes to Sally at a New Year’s Eve party, but because we can relate so well to the story. We were friends for nearly four years before we realised that we had fallen in love with each other, and long distance friends, at that.

So, we sat there, watching the film and quoting our favourite lines:

“You made a woman MEOW?”

“I’ll have what she’s having.”

“I want you to know, that I will never want that wagon wheel coffee table.”

Sally: “So, you’re telling me that a man can be friends with a woman he finds unattractive.”
Harry:” No, you pretty much want to nail them, too.”

“You're the worst kind. You're high maintenance, but you think you're low maintenance.”

“You realise, that when you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

“All I'm saying is that somewhere out there is the man you are supposed to marry. And if you don't get him first, somebody else will, and you'll have to spend the rest of your life knowing that somebody else is married to your husband. ”

Sigh. This is what relationships are really about. His neuroses and her rigidity. Somehow, men and women find a way to meet in the middle and make it work. And then you sit at home in Sydney, on New Year’s Eve, while other people with more energy go into town to see the world famous fireworks display. You're pretty much guaranteed a kiss at midnight, though.

posted by Melanie O. at 10:34 AM -

1 Comments:

At 1:47 AM, gardenbug said…

You didn't see the fireworks? Can't see them from your house or from the beach? I saw them on TV. They were spectacular as always. Next year, don't miss the fireworks. They're more famous than that stupid Waterford Crystal ball in Times Square. You can miss Time Square...cold and dark and filled with pickpockets...You have to take the train to get there, spending...time and money. Once in Times Square, you have to stand for hours, hurded like sheep behind barriers and watched by the police....who can make you open your backpack to be sure you don't have a bomb in there. The experience is one of having cold feet and having to hold your bladder. We sure live in interesting times...which is a Chinese curse,"May you live in interesting times."