Losing My Childhood's New Year Celebration

It had been my personal tradition to celebrate the coming new year with firecrackers. Since I was little, I let my imagination loose and pretend that I am a soldier during New Year’s Eve. The explosion in that day is good to reinforce my imagination of upcoming battle that intensifies as the clock gets nearer and nearer to midnight. In my childish imaginings, I use the “five stars” as my hand grenade and the “kwitis” as an anti-aircraft missile. Me and my brother always build a tableau consisting of pictures of hated artistas, corrupt politicians, and anything that represent the bad things of the past year. The tableau is rigged up with various firecrackers like the “five star,” “piccolo,” and “watusi” and is burned during the midnight of New Years Eve, amidst the tirade of explosions of the coming year.

.

My last New Year's arsenal of firecrackers.

Those were the days. Last New Year’s Eve, I still kept my personal tradition sans the tableau and the gusto of my childish make-believes. Maybe it is because the rain dampened my mood, or maybe because I outgrew my inner child and make me enjoy the firecrackers less. My focus in the last New Year’s celebration shifted from the celebration per se but to my family that is gathered together well and complete. This makes me look at passing year as a good year because my family is still complete and still a happy one. That is what I celebrated the most in the last New Year’s celebration.

.

A simple New Year's Eve feast.