I know New Years is a time for looking ahead, but we can't call it New Year without feeling some kind of nostalgia.   Every now and then my thoughts drift back to when I was kid in New Jersey.  Holiday season in Paterson was always special for me because you never had to go too far to find a party, especially if you had neighbors like mine!

My boy Saul and his mom and sister always through house parties for Christmas and New Year.  Those are some of my favorite memories.  As a teenager I would usually wait for my Mom and Dad to go and do whatever with their friends so I could go out and do my thing.  (We were more or less the only black family on a block full of Latinos and though my parents never said it, it was clear as day they didn't want me hanging out with any of them; prejudice is taught but it doesn't have to be learned).

Those parties are where I got over my social awkwardness, where I learned to dance, and 9 times out of 10 I was the only black dude there but it never registered (I didn't even think about til I got older).  I didn't care, they didn't care.  As far as they were concerned I was one of the family.  That's feeling I miss the most.  True, New Year is a time for looking ahead, but it's also the opportunity to meditate and remember the path that brought us to this point.  Every inch you've tread, every sign post and landmark, they've all played a part in making you who you are.  I'm not just raising my glass to 2012; I'm raising it to Paterson, NJ, to Kennedy High School, to VSU, to Phi Beta Sigma, Wingate University, and all points in between!  I'll finish with a quote from the song with which I always ring in the New Year:

"So take the photographs and still frame in your mind,
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.
It's something unpredictable but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life."

-"The Time of Your Life", Green Day

HAPPY NEW YEAR!