"We have a whole new year ahead of us, and wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, and a little more loving, have a little more empathy - and maybe next year at this time, we'd like each other a little bit more..."
Oh, I know. Someone wrote it for her, and she read the words, turning the really rather ordinary sentiment into something more than that only through the indomitable force of her own personality - but as we see the old year out, it's far from the worst that one could hope for this new and unknown thing, 2013.
It's only this year struck me that I'm older, now, than Judy Garland ever got to be. Through the years turned out to be not so very long for her, although of course for us as listeners, fans, appreciators, she has more than kept her word.
As I look forward at my own second half-century, through the years is no longer the infinite parade of possibilities it once seemed, while all the years behind stretch further and further away. Still, as we teeter on this annual threshold between past and future, through this state of what anthropologists call liminality, I know there's so much more to rejoice for than to pine about, and at midnight tonight, we'll raise a glass to what possibilities remain and toast the year that's been. If nothing else, it's brought us safe this far.
New Year's Eve is a reminder that we're all, in the end, in the same boat, striking out from familiar waters into something new and strange. Here's to us, through the years, with high hopes for the year to come.
when i first saw your title, all i could think of was kenny rogers', "through the years." as you would expect, i was shocked.
ReplyDeleteGood God. Not in a million years. I'm cheesy, yes, but there are definitely limits, and Kenny Rogers is one of them.
DeleteA very Happy New Year to you, with thanks for all the wonderful posts. x
ReplyDeleteI am a bit late, but I'll drink a toast to you, my dear. Happy New Year! Jx
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of a fine little number by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh that ends the late Golden Age gem (at least in my book), "Little Me."
ReplyDeleteBELLE
Here's to us, my darling, my dear,
Here's to us tonight.
Not for what might happen next year,
For it might not be nearly as bright.
But here's to us, for better or worse,
And for thanks to a merciful star,
Skies of blue, and muddling through,
And for me and for you as we are.
And here's to us for nothing at all
If there's nothing at all we can praise,
Just that we're together and here
For the rest of our beautiful days.
Here's to us forever and always.
BELLE & CHORUS
Here's to us, my darling, my dear,
Here's to us tonight.
Not for what might happen next year,
For it might not be nearly as bright.
But here's to us, for all that we have,
And the road that we've travelled so far,
Skies of blue, and muddling through,
And for me and for you as we are.
And here's to us for nothing at all
If there's nothing at all we can praise,
Just for spring, and wanting to sing,
And for feeling like flinging bouquets.
Here's to us forever and always.
A gorgeous number - I'm especially fond of Andrea Marcovicci's version, which now that I think about it might have been a more upbeat way to end a year that needed it, although alas it's not YouTubeable (but, it turns out, Judy's is...)
Delete