Auld Lang Syne

The New Year fast approaches and many of us are thinking of our resolutions for improvement. We’ll fail most likely, but it’s nice to remember once a year that we CAN change if we’re willing.

There is a song with which we’re all familiar – Auld Lang Syne. We hear or sing it every midnight New Year’s Eve, but do we really know its meaning? It is a song about remembering the past, lamenting the distance of friends, and not forgetting old acquaintances. A compilation of long existing writings and additional poetry put together by Robert Burns, a Scots poet, in 1788, Auld Lang Syne has become known worldwide.

“Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot and old lang syne?” The lyrics ask if we should forget our old acquaintances and friends; should we forget the “old long since.” We’re all familiar with the first verse and chorus, but I found the rest of the poem very poignant; remembering times past and the distances between us, whether they be emotional or miles.

“And surely you’ll buy your pint cup, and surely I’ll buy mine; And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

“We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine; But we’ve wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.

“We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun till dine; But seas between us broad have roared, since auld lang syne.

“And there’s a hand my trusty friend, and give us a hand o’ thine; And we’ll take a right good-will draught, for auld lang syne.

“For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”

For some reason this song has made me very emotional this year. It is a song of lament and longing for people we once knew, for those whom we’ve grown distant, for a time of simple pleasures and company.

Time is short for us all. If we live to be 100, there are not enough years in our lives for petty quarrels or imagined hurts. Angry words or actions are a stain on our lives as well as those to whom they are said or done. Is there any one of us who does not wish for one more chance to say I love you to a departed one in our lives? Is there any one of us who does not wish to take back or make up for something we did to hurt another?

Life is fleeting my friends. Remember that when you lash out at your child, spouse, family, friend or neighbor. You may not have the chance to make it up. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us. Remember the past and learn from it, but take a cup of kindness today, for auld lang syne.