Wilson Pickett had big plans back in 1965 when he suggestively rocked out “In the midnight hour”. He was “gonna take you girl and hold you, and do all the things I told you. . .” ? Fifty years later things are a little different. I’m embarrassed to confess we may be home in bed asleep when we hit the midnight hour this New Years’ Eve. Is it 2014 already?

Last year, we attended a lovely dinner and dance at the golf club with a group of friends on New Years Eve. The problem began when we paid the bill for our dinner at 10:30 p.m. and we still had 90 minutes to go until midnight. It was all we could do to manage a few dances and stay awake long enough to welcome in the new year. At 12:01 we were outa’ there like a shot. There were traffic jams in our little neighbourhood as all the departing Boomers hit the road at the stroke of midnight plus one minute.

This year, in recognition of our diminishing stamina, our golf club is celebrating New Years’ Eve at 10:00 p.m. How sad is that? But, the fact remains, we can’t party like we used to. Boomer burnout  is just plain humiliating so we’re going to try and make it ’til the midnight hour at a friend’s place after dinner. Even though “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” may rev us up for 3.5 minutes, that’s about all we can handle. Before long, “When I’m 64” will be the good old days for most of us. It ceased long ago to be a look into the future. Not to be discouraged, we’re still out there trying. We love shakin’ it down and boogying to the 50s and 60s music as long as our hip and knee replacements can prop us up. Listening to Tommy James and the Shondelles or Simon and Garfunkle, I’m transported back to 1967 – the summer of love. Closing my eyes, I’m 20 again as I re-live that incredible time in our lives. Now that we’re in our 60s, it’s still great but in a different way.

When Wilson Picket sang, “Wait ’til the midnight hour, when there’s no one else around . . .”, little did he know how prophetic it would be. Sweet dreams. 2014 is going to be a magnificent year.