Silvester

In Germany I only knew New Year's Eve as Silvester. And it was a big  celebration. Most families have fireworks. At midnight everybody goes outside, meets their neighbors and fires the fireworks.

1975 was a special Silvester celebration in Germany for us. James and I celebrated  our church wedding with our families. In Germany you always have to have a civil wedding (church/religious wedding is optional but would be in addition). We were legally married the day before Thanksgiving that year in City Hall Manhattan.

Anyway, we usually don't make a big deal out of these days since everyday is special to us. James surprised me though when he walked in with this beautiful bouquet. Yup, my James is a great guy.

We had not planned anything special or different than any other evening. But it was.  A few days earlier we had bought a cheese fondue. This day seemed the right day for it. We had not had it in soooooo long. Oh, was it good. 

James had to get the bread for it though. He remembered (from about 20 years ago) that one fondue package didn't seem enough but two were too much. So he also bought sashimi ... just in case. 

Perfect dinner!

Ha-ha, I just turned 70 and just now for the first time I learned why I always called this day Silvester. I googled and found this information on Wikipedia:

Saint Sylvester's Day, also known as Silvester (also spelled Sylvester, Szilveszter, or Sylwester) or the Feast of Saint Sylvester, is the day of the feast of Pope Sylvester I, a saint who served as Pope of the Western Church from 314 to 335 and is considered by tradition as overseeing both the First Council of Nicaea and Roman Emperor Constantine I's conversion to Christianity. Among the Western Christian Churches, the feast day is held on the anniversary of Saint Sylvester's death, 31 December, a date that, since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, has coincided with New Year's Eve. 

Happy New Year to you all. We hope this new year will bring you lots of blessings.