I had the best New Year’s Eve I’ve had in a long time and I didn’t even go anywhere. I stayed in with my parents and Callie, my 4-year-old. We ordered from Outback and we watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Well, we tried to watch it in between Callie yelling for us to all come out to the balcony because the “Fire Man” was doing “sparkles” again (fireworks on the beach).

Neither of my parents actually made it to midnight. Mom went down around 10 p.m. and Dad followed at 11:30. But Callie stayed up the whole time until the ball dropped. I think it’s the first time she’s been up until midnight other than when she was an infant and routinely woke up at all hours of the night. She and I alternately watched the intermittent fireworks from the back bedroom of my parents’ condominium, which overlooks the Intercoastal Waterway, and from the front balcony, which overlooks the beach and the Gulf of Mexico. Not a bad place to spend New Year’s Eve.

Of course, in years past, it was the absolute last place you would have found me on the biggest party night of the year. Since about the age of 20, I’ve spent the majority of my New Year’s Eve nights at some sort of big concert. Phish for New Year’s 2000 in the Everglades was a memorable one. We waited for 13 hours on Alligator Alley to get into that show, which was attended by thousands upon thousands of my closest friends and was a 3-day extravaganza during which I got very little sleep and surely killed lots of brain cells. Widespread Panic in Atlanta was a tradition for several years on and off, including a recent one two years ago. That was a liberating girls’ trip during which I celebrated my newly single status and cemented a lasting friendship with two newish girlfriends. And, of course, there was Day by the River, the college band from the University of Miami. Over the years, the band members and their fans have become some of the best friends I have. We followed them all over the place. My best friend Tracie and I even made a pact to move to Atlanta by the following year at a Day by the River New Year’s concert in Miami Beach.  We did it, too.

Suffice it to say, I’ve had no shortage of fun times on New Year’s Eve. So for me to say that this one, which involved no music whatsoever, no friends and, for the first time ever, no alcohol, is kind of a big deal. Even in the years since she was born, I’ve either had a babysitter or it was her dad’s year with her. This year I decided to eschew party invitations because I wanted to spend it with Callie. What a gift to get to see New Year’s Eve through the eyes of a 4-year-old. She was giddy to see all the fireworks and to watch the ball drop in Time Square for the first time. She wasn’t sure about the whole “ball dropping” thing, but she seemed to understand that it was important from watching everyone on TV counting down and cheering when it finally happened.

The absolute best part of the night was when she and I ran out to the front balcony after the ball dropped to catch the fireworks on the beach. We yelled “Happy New Year” at the top of our lungs and I held her up for a better view. She screamed “I love this!” with the most genuine excitement and delight I’ve ever heard and she hugged me hard. She took the words right out of my mouth. I would trade every concert I’ve ever attended for being with Callie last night.

She passed out from exhaustion by about 12:07, cuddled up with me on the bed watching the last of the fireworks peter out over the Intercoastal Waterway. Her last words of the night were, “I love my family.” Again, exactly what I was thinking. I don’t know how that little person can be such a conduit for pure love, but I am eternally grateful that she is mine. I can’t think of a single happier way to ring in the new year.

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