The Real New Year's Eve Baby

I have always loved New Year's Even get togethers; however, there is one that is more memorable than any other. You only have one first born child, and they only have one first New Year's Eve. My son's first New Year's Eve was a night no one will ever forget.My husband and I moved to Runge, Texas in September of 1996. He had taken a job as a located preacher, and we really grew to love the people there. Runge, is a small town south of San Antonio, and the people there are the very picture of small town Texas. One of the men, Gus, I swear, was Wyatt Earp re-incarnate (right down to his handle bar mustache), his mother, was a wonderful Christian woman who was both gentle and kind. All of the people there were modest, moral and enjoyed small town life.

On New Year's Eve, 1996, the entire congregation of people gathered at one of the member's houses. We were going to ring in the New Year together as a Christian family. A gift exchange was planned, we were going to sing songs and play 84, a version of Texas 42. I remember sitting in a large circle in the living room, close to midnight. The room was still draped with holiday decorations, and the air smelled like baked cookies and cinnamon. I looked forward to an amazing evening, even if I did have a toddler in tow.

My son, Charles, was a beautiful baby. He had light blonde hair and huge blue eyes. His eyes were, and still are, so blue that they are almost black. That New Year's Eve he was fastly approaching two years old, but he was still in diapers and had no desire to potty train.

I had dressed Charles in blue jeans and a sweatshirt. He looked adorable. One of the young girls was watching him and played with him up until the time we were to start the gift exchange. We began playing the White Elephant Christmas game, the one where you get to take other peoples gifts, there were hoots and hollers as people stole gifts from each other. During all that laughter and fun, I completely forgot to keep an eye on Charles. He disappeared from the room and went exploring. No one noticed he was missing until he came back.

Now remember, we were all seated in a huge circle. Every eye was facing the middle of the room, and my son had disappeared. I will never forget the look on Gus' face, or how fast he moved swooping Charles up into his arms, after Charles made his grand entrance. As the clock struck 12:00am my son proudly walked into that circle of people stark naked. He was the real life New Year's Eve baby!