How Will You Say Goodbye to 2020?

We need a new year — and one is coming soon! What are you doing New Year's Eve?

Some of us will reflect on this most unusual of years, assessing the emotional, physical and financial tolls, while others will practice anticipatory joy by expressing high hopes for 2021.

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Some will honor family culinary traditions, preparing black-eyed peas, pickled herring or pork and sauerkraut. Some will mark the transition quietly, by listening to music or reading. Some will dress for the occasion, boldly pop on a party hat, raise a glass and kiss a loved one, just as in years past.

"Dennis and I will dress to the nines. My husband and I think it's important to keep things exciting and fresh, especially in this time of COVID-19," said Lorraine d'Entremont Rawls, 64.

Dennis, 73, will don a new shirt and his black skinny jeans.

Lorraine said, "I'll wear something sparkly, with dangling earrings, a big gaudy necklace and a beautiful bracelet that Dennis gave me years ago. I can't wear spiked heels anymore — I'd probably break a hip — but I can still rock my red suede wedges with silver studs."

The couple lives outside of Ashland, Ore. He owns a lumber yard; she is a retired musician who operates a small tour company. While dressed in their finery on Dec. 31, they plan to peruse travel photos from their 31 years of marriage, and then Lorraine will head for the kitchen.

"I'll cook a fantastic T-bone and baked potatoes and put together a Caesar salad," she said. "Then we'll crack open a dry red wine and laugh and drink until we fall asleep, well before midnight."

By the time 2021 arrives in the Midwest, Mimi Signor and Michael Sorkin will have been married for just over 12 hours. A registered nurse, she retired in 2016; a newspaper reporter, he retired in 2015. They live in St. Louis County, Mo.

Engaged for over a year, before setting a wedding date the couple "kept waiting for things to get better" in regard to the global pandemic.

Things didn't get better. "The restrictions have become more and more strict," Signor said. "Now the wedding has to be outdoors, with no more than ten people attending."

A dear friend will conduct the ceremony, which will be held in a heated tent in a courtyard at a boutique hotel. Signor's three grandchildren and a close friend of Sorkin's will take part, all wearing masks and spaced apart. "The rest of our family will be there on Zoom," Signor said.

Tasty take-out meals and celebratory cupcakes, all boxed for the wedding party, will be available after the ceremony. And with all the travel restrictions, a honeymoon is out of the question.

"Still, we're in love and we're getting married," Signor said. "What a great way to begin a new year!"

Zoom parties are on the agenda for Ginny Burch Reed, who lives in Fairlee, Vt.

"We have friends with whom we have celebrated New Year's Eve for more than thirty years," Reed said.

In previous years, the group met for dinner and shared photos from the past one. "We'll still share the pictures, but will probably skip dining together," Reed added.

Television screens will be part of some celebrations. Sydney Clark, of Frederick, Md., plans to watch the iconic ball drop in what likely will be an empty Times Square in New York City.

One friend reports he and his wife will settle in on their porch swing on a screened-in patio "with a space heater, a bottle of Asti, a batch of homemade oatmeal cookies and two moderately priced cigars."

On Next Avenue's Facebook page, Susan L. Blondin reported that she'll ring in the new year "with good food and drink, and immediate family at home."

She added that she is "cautiously optimistic" that we could be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in regard to COVID-19, "but it's a long tunnel still!"

Barbara Garry echoed that. "I will approach 2021 with guarded optimism," she said.

Linda Freier McGoey had a different take. She said, "I'll be "dancing on the porch with a cup of eggnog!"

Some traditionalists may insist on instigating new rules for themselves, making promises they may or may not keep much past January.

If you do pick up a pen to make such a list, Angela Burton of Louisville, Ky.,  a Next Avenue 2020 Influencer in Aging and founder of Feet to the Fire Writers' Workshops recommends you resolve to start keeping a journal.

"That's important now for historic reasons," Burton said, "but also, based on everything I could gage, people at this point are so worn down by fear of the virus and by going in and out of lockdowns and restrictions, our mental health is precarious — and writing offers therapeutic relief."

She adds,  "Let's pull away from screens, from the news, and find pleasure by entertaining ourselves with our own writing."

What might you write about?

"If you're carrying anxiety, anger, worry or displeasure, you can write that down, or any other thoughts or feelings," Burton said. "Some of your writing may have to do with the pandemic, but you also can express your fondness for past holidays or events. We don't want to forget who we are."

Old photos, travel journals or family treasures you hold dear could spark positive memories for you to record on paper.

Maybe you'll dig out that fancy journal with blank pages that you've never opened or just grab a legal pad or even some printer paper — but Burton hopes you will resolve to begin.

"Writing is therapeutic, and good for our brains," Burton said. "Just start as you would with yoga, walks in nature, music, art or baking. Writing is one more way that we can soothe ourselves."

Speaking of soothing ourselves, a "cup of kindness," from the well-loved seasonal song, also comes to mind.

Please raise one on New Year's Eve to yourself and to your neighbors. 

Patricia Corrigan is a professional journalist, with decades of experience as a reporter and columnist at a metropolitan daily newspaper, and also a book author. She has written for Next Avenue since February 2015. Read more from Patricia at latetothehaight.blogspot.com. Read More