New Year's Eve, 2025

I’ve never been much of a ‘party girl’. New Year’s Eve was most often spent at home, usually in bed and sound asleep long before the clock tolled midnight. Not so 50 years ago on December 31, 1975. Let me take you back to that night.

It was the last game of one of the first big Canada/Russia hockey series. I was lying on the couch in labour, had been since around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon. My husband, the father of the child, was glued to the television. ‘Can you hang on until after the hockey game?’ he asked. ‘I’ll try.’ I said weakly.

I DID in fact hold on until after the game but I could not tell you who won or lost. And frankly I did not care by that point. He called a taxi (we did not have a car) and he bundled me in the vehicle and off we went. We arrived to the hospital by which time I could not even walk.

A perky little nurse appeared with a wheelchair all full of smiles and an excited ‘Happy New Year’! It must have been midnight by then. All I wanted her to do is get close enough to punch that vivacious smile off her face. Luckily for her, she stayed out of my reach. I’d been having contractions for almost ten hours and I was ready for it to be over.

My doctor appeared to check in on me in a tuxedo. He must have come straight from the party he had attended. After verifying that my child was not going to arrive imminently, he left, I assume to get some sleep. Not many girls can say their doctor arrived at the hospital in a tuxedo when they were in labour though, can they?

My son ended up being the first baby boy born in Thunder Bay in 1976. His name was in the paper and we got a bunch of free stuff from local businesses. And 20 years after his birth on December 31, 1995, they replayed that hockey game on television and my son watched it. Obviously Canada won or it would not have been such a big deal.

What is your most memorable New Year’s Eve experience? I would love to hear them.