Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?
A Black Eyed Story New Year's Series
Time Life Pictures - New Year’s Eve 1942
“If you don't like something, change it.
If you can't change it, change your attitude."
– Maya Angelou
“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
– Oprah Winfrey
On January 1st at the stroke of midnight, New Years’ Eve merrymakers across the country will sway with drinks in hand singing Auld Lang Syne. They will fully commit to this tune to which they only know half of the words and none of their meaning because Americans love a tradition whose origin was lost long ago.
Why have Americans committed to singing a Scottish funeral song to welcome the New Year? I have no idea. I’m pretty sure Robert Burns certainly didn’t have us in mind when he wrote the poem in his native tongue – I mean, what is an auld lang syne? But I guess America is as America does – and America sings Auld Lang Syne because tradition is as tradition does.
Here’s something I just learned five minutes into writing this essay: the first few bars of Auld Lang Syne ask two very good questions for Americans to sincerely ask themselves this year—
Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne?
Let me translate for you:
In lieu of this divisive election year, what do we do with complicated old friendships and kinships?
Is it possible to forget about the election and just remember the good times?
The very end of the song suggests that we should never forget our old friends and always extend a cup of kindness to them for old times sake. Burns suggests we raise a toast and let bygones be bygones. This is a lovely sentiment, but Burns was not American.
Since the first red cap was donned for the MAGA movement, we’ve been divided. Churches have split and so have Thanksgiving tables. Folks we considered ride-or-dies are no longer on our Christmas card list. We lost. They lost. Sadly, I fear there may be more losses to come. My intention is to lose only what is necessary by deciphering the difference between what could use a better boundary and what isn’t worth my time. I’ll admit, it’s tricky to decide which way to go. But I learned five lessons this year that have helped fine-tune my discernment. And for the next two weeks, I’ll share my top two and follow up with my last three in the New Year.
Life Magazine - New Year’s Eve 1952
LESSON ONE:
YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN OR WHEN SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN
In 2023, from out of nowhere, family members became Trump supporters. It wasn’t surprising but absolutely perplexing – and annoying. But it’s not easy to just cut off family members.