New Year's Eve

It’s New Year’s Eve, little sweetheart. 

It was never much of holiday for me. Maybe when I was a little boy or something because we got to stay up until midnight - or least try to, I think I often fell asleep before it got that late. But as an adult it never meant much. 

And you and I never did New Year’s together, somehow. Part of it I think was because I was usually with my mom at Christmas until the year she passed away and then at Christmas that year, although I was with you in California, I had to come back to NYC to start rehearsals for something that week before Jan 1. It wasn’t terrible because you were coming to New York right after to be with me. 

I never had much of holiday on New Year’s Eve but I did spend several of the last few with your mom and dad since I was with them for Christmas and didn’t come back to New York until after Jan 1. A few years ago, I started making beef stroganoff each year on New Year’s Eve. Your dad, especially, liked that - even though he was often on call at the hospital that night - so it’s become a tradition. 

I’m on my own this year but I decided to make it, with chicken, instead. It came it pretty good. And I added what I think might become another tradition. 

Remember I told you about that amazing Portuguese movie I saw earlier this year, “The Strange Case of Angelica”? I decided to watch that. It’s the story of a young woman who tragically passes away. In the middle of the night, her wealthy family sends someone into town to find a photographer to take a last picture of her. He’s kind of unusual, a bit shy and no one quite knows what to make of him. He’s very earnest and sweet and when he looks through the lens, she opens her eyes and smiles at him. Only he can see her as she comes to life. 

And she keeps coming to him after that throughout the movie. Coming to his window one night in a beautiful sequence and taking him flying over the city through the night sky. In the end, (oops - spoiler alert!), after he’s hurt in an accident, she comes to him and takes him away with her. 

It’s incredibly beautiful, shot amazingly, like a series of paintings, almost. And, of course, it touches me because of its profound message of faith. 

A new tradition, right, little sweetheart? You so liked beginning them together with me. So, here’s another new at the beginning of a new year. 

With all my love forever.