The golden masks were aglow under the chandeliers, the smiles were genuine and enchanting, and the feet were sashaying to Strauss' Blue Danube. And the company was exceptional, as only family can be. It was New Year's Eve 2006.
It was a different life for us, the closing year of a decade of fancy New Year's Eve Balls in old capitals of Europe. Before my child was born, before I switched jobs, before my father passed.
I was thumbing through photo albums yesterday, bringing back the years that passed so fast. And they were good years. I was lucky and I knew it. They will stay with me forever.
But things change, some for the worse, inevitable. Others change for the better, always welcome.
May this new year bring only the good (and so far so good).
Have a happy and healthy 2013!
