By Mary Graham Bonner
Originally published 1922 in the Western Union Newspaper
Republished in the Republican Champion (A Newport, NH newspaper) December 28th, 1922
“It has been a very joyous day,” said the New Year. “It has been my first day here and I must say I have greatly enjoyed it.
“Old Man Winter is not at all the chilling, cold creature I expected him to be. By no means. Of course it is true he is cold. But his spirit is a nice one. He has the kind of coldness about him that I like. It doesn’t make people feel unhappy, but it makes them feel like walking and doing things. It makes them feel energetic and glowing.
“It has been such a beautiful day, too. As for the people – they have been fine.
“They have gone about wishing each other a happy New Year and the greetings have been so pleasant and cheerful.
“Now I have a few new ideas. Perhaps they are not really new. But they are new to me. I’ve heard it said that there is really nothing so very new.
“Anyway, I’m getting to tell these ideas of mine.
“Whether they are new or not, I am hoping everyone will like them.
“Now today has been the first day of the year, as everyone knows. Everyone has wished everyone else such delightful wishes. That is no news.
“But my ideas are these.
“Why not keep up this spirit all through the year? Of course I do not mean that everyone should wish everyone else a happy New Year every day of the year.
“That would be very foolish.
“But I would like the same spirit to be about all the time. I would like it if everyone felt that they were wishing the best for everyone else at all times.
“It would be so nice if people could feel happy toward others all the time.
“For example it would be so nice not to have any jealousy about. It would be so not to have some envious of others.
“It would be wonderful if when one person heard that some friend had had good luck for it to make them happy too.
“That would make the very air full of happiness and cheer. I don’t mean that I think everyone should go about with a silly grin. That would be foolish and tiresome.
“My idea is for them to have their hearts smiling so that their words would be cheery and so that they would feel so much goodwill toward each other.
“I had a talk with the Old Year just before he went.
“He told me that the one thing which had made him really sad at times had been the senseless quarrels and ugly words and mean speeches which once in awhile he had heard.
“Such things he said had made him cry. And when a year cries there is sorrow in the air.
“He told me that the reason, or at least one of the reasons, why everyone was so happy at Christmas time was because everyone felt happiness and wished friends happiness and merriment.
“And it is the Christmas spirit and the New Year spirit that I would like to see kept up all the year.
“As I say, these may not be new ideas of mine, but they are ideas I feel very strongly.
“For example, I would like it if mothers and daddies were just the same all the year as they were at Christmas time, and if children were the same too, wanting to do for each other, saying kindly things.
“I would like it if grownups never hurt children’s feelings – those grownups who don’t understand children. I wish they would never say things to hurt the feelings of children.
“The New Year is young and knows that one can feel hurt when one is very young.
“And I would like it if children never hurt the feelings of older people and never acted as though they felt they were old or tiresome.
“The Old Year told me something about that and the Old Year told me how the feelings of older people could be hurt.
“Yes, let’s wish everyone a happy New Year and happiness all through the year and let’s keep wishing it in our hearts all the time. When we think of mean or cross or impatient things to say let us say ‘Happy New Year’ to ourselves.”
