LAST MOMENTS OF 2007 - -

NOW 2008, HERE WE COME!

By Dr. Ruth B. Stewart-Loving

Greetings for a Happy New Year are still resounding in my ears and I must talk about some of my beautiful last moments of the year 2007. Along with several other holiday invitations, I received a personal invitation from one of the tenants, Ms. Della Jacobs, who was planning the New Year’s Eve party in my apartment building, the Costello House, and I decided to attend.

I headed for the community room and there I found a large group of my neighbors sitting at tables, some were in wheelchairs, some had their canes or crutches. I was greeted with their smiles as they reached out to shake my hand and was told to sit wherever I wished. I sat with friends at a table and settled in for the evening with my peers, aged 55 years and older. This was a moment in my life I hadn’t dreamed of.

Ms. Della Jacobs was smiling and busily arranging the large amount of food prepared by the committee. The food tables were set up on one entire side of the community room. Finally, Ms. Jacobs turned to all of us and said, “Don’t just sit there. Come and get some hors d’ oeuvres!”

There were platters of cold cuts, cheeses, crackers, shrimp, cocktail sauce, olives and pickles. Also, there were large bowls of homemade potato salad, barbequed pigs’ feet, sausage, fried chicken, Spanish rice, rolls, cabbage (by Della), along with wine, water and soda to drink.

During the evening guests came and went. Although there was not an area for dancing, the music played throughout the evening and I found myself moving to the beat in my chair. The men didn’t show any desire to dance with the many charming women. Or, could it be they were content to remember their many years of waltzing, fox trotting, boogying, doing the Lindy hop or the slow drag?

Some of the guests in attendance were Della Jacobs, our hostess, Gloria Sturgeon, Gloriette Pappas, Vera Worthy, Mary Stebbins, Frances Giampietro, Wilbert Joiner, Moui Tran, Dennis W. Adams, Betty Wilson, Mary Owens, Pedro Ayola, Albaris Pomales, Lillian Brown, Henry Trimmer (Houseman), Handy Campbell, Elizabeth Hunter and yours truly. Everyone had a great time at the party and I left around 11:30 p.m. to return to my apartment and watch the ball drop at Times Square in New York on television. I, along with many other people in the world, was awake to view the first moment of 2008.

Now 2008 - - HERE WE COME with all of us praying for good health, better luck and more sunshine in our lives. The past years of my life have been filled with participating in exciting activities and meeting great people. After saying many times, “Not in my lifetime will I ever see a Black president,” with the apparent direction Barack Obama is heading in, you and I just may see a dramatic and historic change in this country. Now wouldn’t that be wonderful in 2008!