I’ve stopped celebrating New Year and my wife’s not happy

“Are you not going to celebrate at all? Maybe step out…,” my wife asked me last night, her tone carrying a touch of reprimand. She was in Texas with our daughter for her tennis tournament, while I stayed in North Carolina with the rest of the family.

“No, we’re good and happy,” I replied. I was watching The Departed with one of my sons, while the rest of the family — my other two sons and my parents — were occupied with their own activities.

“You’re always like this…”

Actually, this past New Year’s Eve might have been our least celebratory ever — no champagne, no special meal. I went to bed around midnight, barely aware of the moment when the new year started. I used to make a wish at midnight, and yesterday I forgot even that, for the first time ever.

It wasn’t always this way. Growing up in Russia, we always celebrated New Year’s Eve — it was, and likely still is, the biggest holiday of the year. You celebrate with your extended family or friends, staying up until the early hours of the morning. When you’re a kid, it’s the biggest thrill — staying up as long as you can, maybe till five or six in the morning.

The late afternoon of New Year’s Eve is spent cooking and preparing, and then the New Year’s table cracks under the weight of food — multiple courses and side dishes. You watch special entertainment programs on TV featuring the country’s biggest celebrities. A few minutes before midnight, the President…