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Starting Over

Read more articles on Let Me Share With You and Holidays.

January 1, 2007

About This Editor: Karen has enjoyed her many varied experiences in corporate business management, dance education, and preschool assistance. She hopes to write about these past lives-and more-from her home in Pittsburgh, PA, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and 3 cats.

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My mother had a long list of New Year’s superstitions and traditions from her Czechoslovakian/Austrian upbringing. The main one that was to be upheld at all costs involved eating pork, sauerkraut and pretzel bread on New Year’s Day for luck throughout the year.

Try as I might, I just can’t bring myself to not adhere to this. The fear of what would happen if I did not do so keeps the family practice alive!

In 2006, last year now, I didn’t bother with the pretzel bread, and I must say it was one of the worst years I’ve had in a long time. Was it coincidence? I’m not taking that chance again! Early afternoon found me at the grocery store, scooping up the delicacy, and marveling at the fact they now make it in 3 different varieties: plain, iced, and iced with nuts. What will be next-different colors and sugar jimmies? Of course, the best deals on the sauerkraut came in large cans that will take us a week to finish, which will seem like a month since no one really likes the stuff anyway. And as far as the roast goes, once my husband gets past grumbling about the bones (the real way to experience New Years is to gnaw on them), all will be fine.

I also couldn’t help but remember New Year’s Days as a young child in the 60’s. It was something big back then, as most special days were. In my Catholic upbringing, I had to attend Mass, since it was a holy day of obligation. What the first day of the calendar year had to do with religious significance, save for Christ’s circumcision on the 8th day, was never made clear to me. In any event, my mother put the pork roast in the oven before we left for noon mass, so that when we returned in the cold and snowy afternoon, the house smelled heavenly. New Year’s decorations and paper products added to the festivities of the table, and staying in our dressy church clothes added importance to the first family dinner of the year. Along with a dark haired man (my dad) crossing the threshold first, making resolutions, and keeping money under the tablecloth, our luck was ensured for the next 365 days.

But things are different today. The stores and malls are open, and it’s business as usual in the shopping district 2 minutes from my house. It looks like any other day, and that saddens me. It should be special, as it is a new start…even for those of us who have experienced a lot of them. Happy New Year and Happy New Start! May 2007 be a good year for us all!