A Very Silly New Year’s Eve by Marla White

I’ve always loved the holiday season. Christmas music in October? Bring it! My roommate forbade me from putting the lights on the house until after Thanksgiving, but Friday morning at 8:30 I was up on the roof with my multi-colored icicle lights. But my favorite part of the holiday season as an adult is New Year’s Eve. Because of the partying? Well, a little of that, but not the way you might think. 

A little backstory…  

At fourteen, New Year’s Eve meant babysitting jobs were plentiful. Of course, I also felt like a loser, not doing all the cool things my older siblings got to do. One year, I was alone in a neighbor’s house, the kids fast asleep. The noises the strange house made freaked me out a little. Just when I was certain there was a killer in the house (have you not seen that movie? yikes!), when Dick Clark’s "Rockin’ New Year’s Eve" came on. After the ball fell, Barry Manilow sang It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve and suddenly the night had an anthem for me. If you’ve never heard it, the song is best summed up in one line, “It’s just another night, that’s all it is”.

Listening to those reassuring words, that your whole future isn’t caught up in one night, every year was my New Year’s Eve tradition until I went to college. Then I found better things to do on the night in question. Were they more fun than going to Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour (remember those?) with my sister and ending the night with Barry? Not always, but it’s New Year’s so you have to celebrate, right? You’re young and stupid. It’s imperative that you glam it up and find a cool bar or party to go to or you might as well paint a big “L” on your forehead. 

Cut to an unstated number of years and a lot of comically dreadful New Year’s gatherings later. One year, my roommate and I decided the pressure to be cool wasn’t worth it. We stayed home and invited other friends who were also over the notion that you had to do something spectacular that one night a year. I’m not even sure whose idea it was or how it started, but when midnight came around, we went out in our front yard and had a Silly String fight.

“Fight” is a bit too strong of a word. We ran around like maniacs, squealing like toddlers as we sprayed each other with Silly String to see who we could cover the most. It lasted about two minutes, but it was a lot of breathless fun. It took all the weight off the night that MUST be the biggest, bestest, shiniest of the year

The party became a tradition and grew in size every year. With more friends coming from farther away, it became a slumber party of sorts for anyone who wanted to stay, with a special New Year’s Day breakfast. Of course, the Rose Parade on TV was a must! One year, a friend who is British and had somehow never seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail was over. The entire party felt duty-bound to introduce her to the comedy masterpiece, staying up until three in the morning laughing. The clean up the next day wasn’t all that fun, but so worth it. 

We’ve downsized to an apartment, but still have a gathering, just no more Silly String. And even though we’re in LA, we celebrate midnight New York time because…why not? I love being at a point in life where I’m no longer a servant to the clock or when other people tell me when and how I should have fun. 

And every New Year’s Eve, even if I don’t make a point of listening to the song, Barry’s words make me smile. Because it really is just another night, and like the man says, “we’ve made good friends…remember all the nights we spent with them?”

Here’s a picture with one of the friends and…you guessed it, Barry Manilow! She arranged for tickets to his show in Las Vegas that included meeting him before the show.  Talk about full circle!

Want to win a $5 gift certificate?  Go to my website, www.marlaawhite.com , sign up for my mailing list, and your name will be entered to win! Winner will be chosen from random, contest ends on  - you knew it was coming – Midnight on New Year’s Eve!

Marla White is an award-winning novelist, story instructor at UCLA, and writing coach. She began her illustrious career as a storyteller at the age of four by drawing on the TV screen. Today she gives writers the tools they need to tell great stories, crayons not included. 

Her first novel, The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder, was published in 2021. Look for the sequel, Framed for Murder, coming out this spring. When she’s not writing, she’s out in the garden, hiking, or putting together impossibly difficult puzzles.   

Marla White