Fly Me To The Moon

                                        

                                                                   1970 New Years Eve Party

While talking one evening about the popular sixties television show, Bewitched, Brian looked at me and said, “Real people do not have cocktail parties where they stand around, drinking highballs listening to Frank Sinatra on the record player.”  I looked at him and started laughing.  I smiled at him and said, “My parents had such parties all the time; we kids had to go upstairs.”

 I remember many nights when my lullaby was Fly Me to the Moon.  My parents loved inviting friends over to eat, drink, play games and dance.  The parties in my home were not merely work-related cocktail parties like the ones on television; the parties on the television were boring by comparison, most of the guests merely standing around talking.  In my home, everyone danced and there was a great deal more laughter.   

Typically, my sister Cece and I would quietly spy on the party from our balcony.  We often saw a similar sight like subject picture:  my mother, Aunt Sharon, Uncle Jim, my father’s partner, Mr. Weinbrenner, and some other guest are dancing around the house in their 1970’s New Year’s party garb.  It was apparent to us that they were having a great time; smiles were seen on all the faces and the house was filled with their chattering.  I love this snapshot of the party frozen in time, real family history.  My parents really knew how to have fun. 

The excitement over the coming evening of fun began with the day’s preparation for the party.  Mom had us clean the house top to bottom; for some strange reason I always got stuck vacuuming the stairs.  I think it was because I was the youngest.  All five of us kids were in charge of making the bathrooms shine, the house dust-free, and kitchen sparkling.  If there was snow in the driveway, my brothers were in charge of completely clearing it so that none of the guest would slip and fall. 

            Other than cleaning the home, we kids could detect the other signs of a big event about to take place by the visit to the store for new coloring books and crayons, special treats and pop.  We kids were told to stay upstairs, where our parents prepared a “kids only party” to take place while the adults had their fun in the rest of the house.  Mom made sure that we had a special celebration with our own special food table, the television set up in the girl’s room, and a pile of games handy to keep us busy throughout the night.  If we were lucky, our cousins would join us upstairs for our private party and a sleepover, and then we would really have a lot of fun.

            Another sign of a “big party” was mom pulling out her beautiful glass dish that she used for her special cherry torte.  Also on the menu, my favorite party food:  golden cheeses.  These were small cheddar cheese-filled pastry. To this day it is one of my favorite nostalgia foods.  Other signs of a big event included the large fancy punch bowl, vegetables and dip, potato chips and dip.

As the sun set, my father turned on the outside Christmas lights as a beacon to guide the visitors.  At the appointed time, the knocks on the front door seemed continuous, as men in suits and ties, and women in colorful maxi-skirts and bee-hive hairdos crossed its threshold, carrying large bowl and trays filled with finger foods or desserts.  Rounds of kisses for all present, and we kids were banished to the upper regions.  It was party time!

I remember a silly game that my parents bought for one such party called Funny Bone.  It was a hilarious game where two people picked a card and imitated the picture.  For example, "the funny bone is connected to the knee bone".  The two-person teams had to place the card between the elbow of one person and the knee bone of the other.  The small team continued to pick cards and connect their bodies together, with the card between them, until they fell or dropped a card.  Watching the grown-ups play this game always made me jealous; I wanted to be invited into the night’s fun.

In the end, I did not really know all that took place at these gatherings, the endless talking and laughing about subjects we knew nothing about.  We kids had to stay in our rooms.  Other than my sister’s and my bird’s eye view from the balcony, all we could tell is that we really wanted to grow up so we could attend such parties.  Finally tired, I laid down to sleep, still listening to the chattering and laughing of my parents and friends, as their voices lulled me to sleep and I flew to the moon, past Jupiter and Mars.

                                                              This is a game worth getting.