New Year's Eve Tradition

There is a tradition I have had the pleasure to share at one point in my life. While I was in college, I was dating a young man who's parents are from the Dominican Republic. In my family, New Year's Eve was a time for parties and friends; I was either babysat (as a child) or was the babysitter in my teen years. I had not experienced a "family" New Year's Eve tradition until this.

Just before midnight, the women in the family prepared the glasses. They were cheap plastic champagne glasses, but that did not matter. Somehow we needed to fit 12 grapes into the glasses and then fill them with the champagne. At midnight, everyone drank the champagne and ate the grapes in their glass.

There were 6 green grapes and 6 red grapes. It was explained to me that this represented the good luck and bad luck for the year. Whatever life hands them, they took the good with the bad and trusted that God will work it all out in the end.

What a wonderful thought to start the New Year.

- ESA