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Loretta Garcia

The World Celebrates My Birthday!?


I consider myself privileged to have been born on New Year's Eve!

As a young child, I always believed that the world celebrated my birthday! After all everyone partied and there were fireworks from New York to California and around the world on TV.

At home, Champagne, Apple Cider and a huge feast were a yearly event. My aunt and uncle would pull up with loaves of freshly baked bread and sweets and my cousins looking gorgeous in their new outfits would pile out of the station wagon bringing hugs and kisses. Friends and family would start to arrive and by early evening the celebrations would be in full swing with 30 to 40 people crammed into our small home. I have vivid memories of sitting in a corner watching the grown ups dancing and hoping I too would become a great dancer when I grew up (didn't happen). Wandering over to where family members and friends were playing dominos and have my daddy wink at me when I asked if he was winning! Watching my mom and aunt make their special hot chocolate and toast as midnight approached and of course, the highlight of the evening - blowing out the candles on my birthday cake!

In later years celebrations at various locations included standing in sub freezing temperatures on the Las Vegas strip, attending concerts, dancing to the latest hits at the Cuban Club House parties and of course my favorite, celebrating at Disneyland. As the clock ticked towards the magical hour and the end of my birth DAY , I would look forward to the countdown and beginning of a new year! Excited to see what it would bring.

Sitting in my office reminiscing, I remember as a kid, dreaming about the huge party the world would throw me on my biggest birthday ever - the year my age (59) matched my birthyear (1959)! The adult part of me knows it's just one more day on the calendar, full of work, chores and daily routine. And while friends and family may remember to send me birthday wishes, the celebrations do not revolve around ME. But just for a few seconds, I am taken back to the "good ole days" when I was still young and naïve enough to think every magical New Year's Eve party was in my honor!

Chasing Magical Adventures would like to wish our friends and family a safe and memorable New Year's Eve celebration.


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