New Years Eve Story From My Youth

My Dad told me this New Years Eve close call story years ago when I started going out to celebrate New Years. When he first told me the story it was one of those "there he goes again moments" that every young man in their late teens has with their Dad. But as I age and have so many great memories in my life -- and maybe a few close calls too -- the story is more and more significant to me. I think about it every New Years now.

It took place in Pelham, New York. Pelham is a suburb of New York City where we lived from 1964 until we moved away in 1973. The town was filled with young families and my parents and brother and sister were one of many young families living, working, and going to school there. It was such a tight community, that even though we moved across the country in 1973, some of the kids in my class wondered what happened to me and I wondered what happened to them and we found each other on Facebook years later. Here is my 5th grade class picture.

Mrs. Fornges 5th Grade Class 1972-73 SY

But I digress.

Moms and Dads in the town were close too and my parents were often invited out. One New Years probably in the late 1960's or early 1970's my father and mother were heading home from a New Years Eve party in Pelham and parked facing this way at this corner.

This is the corner of Boulevard and Highbrook Ave. in Pelham. For a small town it's a busy intersection during the day. It is a half block from Colonial School -- the elementary school I attended -- and even though there is a stoplight, there was always a police officer directing traffic when I walked to or from school each day.

My father though said when he approached that intersection on that fateful New Years Eve, the intersection was quiet. It was late.

He and my mom were stopped in their car at the red light on Highbrook and waited for it to turn green. When it turned green, it happened.

My Dad does not know why he did this, but he paused. He paused before entering the intersection. He had the green light but for some reason he did not enter the intersection and that made all the difference.

It is hard to see what is coming from the east on Boulevard. It is pretty thickly planted with foliage on that corner, and my Dad never admits to looking carefully. But he did pause and that let a speeding car barreling down Boulevard plow through the red light now on Boulevard and on to another destination.

As my Dad told the story, if he had not paused, if he had entered that intersection as he was supposed to, he and my mom would have been subjected to a high speed T-bone crash from what was seemingly a drunk driver.

Close calls are part of all of our lives and most of us fortunately learn a few things from them. But that story always reminded me that we have to sometimes rely on good fortune too ... to be in the right place at the right time, to maybe even behave unexpectedly and pause when we don't usually.

I used to love going out on New Years Eve. When I worked in the arena and stadium management business, I remember some especially nice New Years parties. My co-workers and I had all worked an event on New Years Eve and then gathered to celebrate together after work until almost sunrise on New Years Day. Today, I sit home and cook a couple of Lobsters and think about my resolutions for the next year. (I will write about mine tomorrow but I have attached a great list of resolutions from the author Jon Gordon below.)

In the meantime, I hope all my friends, family and readers of this blog have a safe and happy New Year!