Happy New Year!

I was six in 1976, six years away from abstract thinking. My brother on the other hand was 13 going on 14 and understood quite easily the passage of time and how tonight could be 1976 and tomorrow could be 1977.

We were staying the night at the Holiday Inn up the road. Mom and Dad were downstairs celebrating with the other grown ups in the ballroom, while my brother and I watched Dick Clark on the big color TV and tried to stay awake until midnight.

As the countdown to the new year started, my brother raised his plastic glass of ginger ale to me and said in all seriousness, "Well, Karin. This is the last time I'll see you this year."

I burst into tears and wailed, "Whyyyyyyyy?!!!!"