• Happy New Year From a New Editor!

Happy New Year From a New Editor!

Greetings! Is it too late to say Happy New Year? I believe it's still acceptable to wish someone the best in 2013, even though we are well into the month. After all, some of us are just getting started on our resolutions at this point!

Did you ever wonder how the tradition of making those semi obligatory resolutions began?

In 46 B.C., as part of his plan to reform the calendar, Emperor Julius Caesar officially instituted Jan. 1 as the first day of the year. He chose January partly to honor the month's namesake, Janus, the Roman god of beginnings. According to legend, Janus had two faces that allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future. Since it was believed that Janus could forgive transgressions, many Romans would give gifts and make promises at the beginning of the new calendar year. They believed Janus would appreciate their good intentions and would watch over them in the coming year.

I don't know about you, but discovering the fact that a "two-faced" mythical god is the historical basis of my feeble New Year's resolutions somehow makes perfect sense! It's so difficult to maintain our goals and promises for the duration of a year. We get busy and distracted. We lose sight of priorities. We encounter challenges we didn't expect. I, for one, often end up 12 months later barely able to recall what I had in mind in January.

While this lack of adherence to a plan may be true for my annual weight-loss and exercise goals, it is not the case when it comes to my commitment to Good Old Days. As the new magazine and newsletter editor, I am beyond excited. My main goal? To have fun "remembering the best" with you, the loyal readers of Good Old Days. Together we can dive into the past, recalling our younger years with fondness, humor, a tempered sense of pride and a wisp of wistfulness. We will travel back in time, reading others' stories that prompt our own sweet memories, enjoying treasured photos that readers share with us, and recalling historic events from our youth that helped shape who we are today.

There will be a few changes along the way, of course. Change, as they say, is inevitable. But much like the make-believe Janus, we can delight in the past while looking forward to the future. So ... Happy New Year readers! I resolve to make our Good Old Days come alive in 2013. And I promise we'll have fun doing it!

If you'd like to share a comment (or a New Year's resolution!) with me, please feel free to email me at Editor@GoodOldDaysMagazine.com.