2022 versus 1992

_{Memories of days gone by but not forgotten!}

L.M. Montgomery said -

1992!

What a year! Where to even start. My wife and I had celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary that year in June and seven days later she gave birth to our first child together! We had graduated from Bible college the year before and accepted a position as Youth/Children's Pastors at a church in Illinois. The picture to the above left was actually taken in that church in front of the stage for the Christmas pageant in 1992. My very talented wife hand drew, crafted, and painted the Precious Moments themed manger scene behind us. Our adventure together on the road called life had only just begun and we had no idea where it would be taking us but oh what a ride it would be!

With my Insta-son (our term for my stepson, he always called me dad and I always called him son) who was 9 and having a 6-month old there really wasn't much of a party that year for New Year's eve. We never really were drinkers or revelers. My wife always referred to New Year's Eve as an amateur night. We use to make some snack foods and turn the tv on and watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve (back when Dick Clark was still alive) and watch the ball drop in Times Square in New York City. At midnight we would toast and kiss. With the kids in bed at that age and being young newlyweds, kissing would soon turn to making out, and making out would lead to . . . well you know, MORE BABIES! And truth be told sometime in the spring of 1992 all that kissing led to a visit from the stork again in February of 1993.

To be honest New Year's Eve of 1992 is easily one of the best, so many fond memories of that time. Over the years we would celebrate the New Year in other ways, sometimes sharing it with a couple or two that we were friends with and having a mini-party, or celebrating with our Youth Group kids and having a Lock-in for them which would be held at the church and last from 6 pm New Year's Eve to 6 am New Year's Day! Let me tell you, those were fun! 20-30 teenagers all night playing games, eating pizza, and always ending in the inevitable pillow fight before most of them ran out of gas about 2 am and fell asleep!

2022!

As you can see in the pictures above New Year's Eve this year will be quite different indeed! First, we will be carrying a few more pounds and inches (or kilos and Centimeters) with us to 2022 than we did thirty years ago. Also, we will be carrying a bit less hair with us too! There will be fewer noisemakers and trumpeters as the kids have all spread their wings and left the nest.

This year I will once again be spending New Year's Eve with the person nearest and dearest to my heart, the love of my life. This will be our 32nd New Year's together and once again we will make our favorite snacks, and (if New York City doesn't cancel it) watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve (though he has past on). We will once again share our kiss at midnight which will probably lead once again to making out, which will, in turn, will lead to . . . OH NO if that stork comes anywhere near this house he's dead!!! Yes, New Year's Eve will be just the way I like it, spent with the one I love most.

I hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for this theme, it stirred up so much inside me and took me to a place I haven't visited in some time, a place dear to my heart!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's to the Silver Bloggers and all the HIVE community!!!