Whadya Doin New Years Eve

With New Years eve quickly approaching that little voice in the back of my head is trying to surface. It's the one that tells me how horrible it is not to have a significant other to ring the New Year in with.

If my husband said it once he said it a thousand times, "Lets ring in the New Year with a bang." He thought he was so funny, but after awhile I ceased to be amused. Gosh it would be funny to hear it again!

Six years before Ed died we were invited to a friends house for a Murder Mystery party on New Years Eve. There were four couples altogether.

The invitation arrived telling us somethings about the character we were to play, and with some suggestions of how to dress, and also the food item we were to bring. The 1st year was a Roaring 20's theme. Ed was a gangster and I was his moll. It was an Italian cuisine and Ed and I were supposed to bring an antipasto salad.

Its been 15 years but if memory serves me right, the evening went something like this:

• We arrived and introduced ourselves as our character
• We toasted with a glass of champagne (or two) and ate hors devoirs
• We went to the living room and played the 1st scene of the game
• We went into the dining room and drank a glass of wine with our soup and salad
• Back to the living room for Scene 2
• Back to the dining room for the main course which was pecan crusted pheasant breasts in alfredo sauce, and of course another glass of wine.
• Back to the living room for Scene 3
• Back to the dining room where we had dessert and a dessert wine and coffee (lots of black coffee).
• Once again back to the living room where we drank more wine while we discussed the clues and then gave our answer to which one of us we thought was the murderer.
• Finally the murderer revealed who they were and winners received bragging rights for the year.

Gosh as I write this I'm wondering how any of us drove home after drinking that much. I guess we metabolized it better back then.

We all had so much fun playing dress up that we decided to do it every year.

Here Ed and I are the 2nd year. Ed's character was Delbert (Del) Toid the class jock and I was the Hawaiian transfer student/cheerleader named Elizabeth Lei but my friends called me EZ Lei. I think I look more like a sumo wrestler than a cheerleader!

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All I remember about this year was Ed was the murderer. It was supposed to be the 1940's. Me in a fur and Ed in shorts. Hmmm that was how it always was in our relationship. I was always too cold and Ed always too warm.




This year is another 20's theme. Ed wore 2 hats this year. His other was an aviator cap.

This was our 5th year. I haven't a clue who Ed was supposed to be in this picture. He looks like a ring master of the circus, and Norm looks like a lion tamer, but I'm thinking Sharon Jim and Steve were supposed to be Aussies. The rest of us in our Gay 90's costumes.

Ed and I were going to host the 6th party. We were both so excited because it was a Chinese theme and we had great costumes picked out. I remember the name of the mystery was "Who Hung Woo". But of course that party never happened and none of us had the heart to do it ever again without Ed. I'm glad they just didn't replace us with another couple.

New Yeas is much different since Ed's been gone. If I try, I can recall the excutiating pain I felt that first year. The next year, I wasn't as numband I decided to spend NYE with Ed's family. But that was just too hard. His brothers are all so much like Ed that it made it even more evident what a gapping hole his death had left.

For a few years I went to a church party with my family on NYE; and then I babysat the grands for a few more.

But last year I got together with a few of my peeps from the widows group and we went to a matinee movie, and then had an early dinner. I was home in my pj's before 10 pm, but I had such a good time that I didn't mind a bit not having a date and being home and in bed before the ball dropped.

I think this year will be the same. Its my new normal, and it's starting to feel pretty good.