Toronto Mike

Staying Up 'Til Midnight

Rewind

I was just talking with Taryn about what's going on in the city and on television tonight as we welcome 2006.  We were trying to remember the last time one of us was actually awake when the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve.  We were guessing it's been a good five years.  We were wrong.

I was awake at midnight on New Year's Eve as recently as two years ago.  It's well documented and you can read about my New Year's Eve 2003 in the Archives.  Here's an excerpt of what I wrote.

There was the oxygen mask because his oxygen levels were low, there was the intravenous to keep him hydrated and to give him antibiotics, there was the withdrawal of blood and chest x-rays to determine the extent of his pneumonia. All of this in the pediatric emergency room and it was approximately 11:00 pm EST. James was admitted for a minimum 48-72 hours, but there were no beds available. The nurse blamed SARs, claiming new rules limited one child to each room, and the rooms that were previously used by four children were now holding one. So, James and I were stuck in the ER for the night, but were given a stretcher-like cot to sleep on. This cot was a little narrow for me, let alone a sick child in an oxygen mask and intravenous injected into his little arm. I managed to squeeze myself against the bars of the cot so that I wasn't interfering with the flow of the intravenous but could still keep James' oxygen mask on his face in spite of his attempts to rip it off every few minutes. At this point I glanced at the big digital clock on the wall and it read 11:51.
Nine minutes later, an announcement was placed over the intercom wishing all of us in the emergency room on New Year's Eve a Happy New Year. I leaned in and gave James a kiss on the cheek whispering in his infected ear "Happy New Year Sweet Baby James. 2004 is going to be a great year." And it will be.

And it was.  So was 2005.  Happy New Year everyone.

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