Happy New Year! What a great thing to be able to say. You can look at it as either the glass is half full or half empty. We can spend our time missing the year that just left and bemoaning all the things we didn’t get done or accomplish, or we can pick ourselves up and say in this new year, &uot;I will get more done and accomplish more.&uot;

This will be a big year at the Hall house. Holly will finish her senior year and go to college (nope, we still don’t know which of the final two); Matthew will get rid of his drivers permit and go pick up the real deal &045; a license &045; which to him is a big milestone; and Emily is going to camp for an extra week this summer and moving up into Cathedral’s middle school.

One year, 365 days, to tell your loved ones how much you appreciate them, love them and need them in your life &045; and don’t waste a single one of them.

Before the New Year rang in we had great Christmas holidays at the Hall house. We had a full table for Christmas, my dad and stepmother from Jackson, my in-laws from here in Natchez, David’s grandmother and grandfather, and myself and children. Santa dropped off a bag full of goodies for each of them. And I think I had as much fun watching them open gifts as I did receiving some of my own. Emily was hot for Polly Pocket items this year, Matthew &uot;needed&uot; a cell phone and Holly wanted clothes and tinting for her car windows.

To top off our Christmas vacation, Matthew and his grandpa Bobby went hunting with Ricky Smith out at his camp, while my girls and Wanda Smith and her son, John, and daughter, Elly, headed to Baton Rouge to shop. Late that evening as I began to despair of ever getting a phone call, Wanda told me it was getting late and it was good news that we had not heard from anyone; that meant they weren’t back in the camp and someone had most likely had a kill. Well, guess what? The new cell phone came in handy as Matthew got to call and tell us he had killed a six-point with a pretty spread, and they were bringing it in. After a couple of does, it was exciting for him to get this one. My thanks to grandpa Bobby for his patience over the years, to Mr. Ricky for taking them to his camp and to Ms. Wanda who let Matthew hunt on her stand. A week later, he killed another buck so the drought is over, and he can concentrate on basketball the rest of the month.

Many of you spent your New Year’s Eve out on the town; so did I and in New Orleans at that. But rather than on Bourbon Street, I was at the New Orleans Arena to watch the Trinity Saints take on Jackson Academy. And even though we lost, I have to say these boys are racking up the points this year and, according to one prognosticator, this is the year for the Trinity boys basketball team.

The truth is I will have spent about half the game with Tana Archer, both of us with tears in our eyes. Her son, Marcus, is a senior this year with my Holly and we have matched each other tear for tear as we do every single &uot;last&uot; thing of our children’s senior year. I’m sure I’m not nearly through shedding a few tears this year. If you are looking for a smart stock option, here’s a tip: I use Kleenex brand tissue and I’m going through a boatload of them.

Christina Hall

writes a weekly column for The Democrat.