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Wishing You Soulful Holiday Longings

by Lois Bolin, Ph.D., Old Naples Historian
ing Crosby made the first live radio finding that this sepia-toned sentiment does not cement us in the
performance of a new song called “White past but actually raises our spirit and vitality.”
BChristmas” seventeen days after the They went on to say that when subjects were induced to
Japanese December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor. experience wistful reverie via sentimental song, movies, or memories,
Irving Berlin’s song about a nostalgic view of they reported greater self-continuity by increasing a sense of social
an ideal snowy northeastern Christmas became connectedness.
an instant classic and one of the most patriotic Here are a few of my favorite movies to enhance our wistful
songs of World War II the following November 1942. reverie: The Family Stone; The Holiday; Scrooge; Elf; Love Actually;
The song’s reflection about a single holiday and the longing it A Christmas Story; Christmas With the Kranks; National Lampoon's
induced, struck a chord that exemplified the national mood at the Christmas Vacation; Die Hard (I can hear the moans now); You’ve Got
time - the desire to be home for Christmas which was amplified by Mail; The Man Who Invented Christmas; Bridget Jones's Diary;
the war. This common thread of nostalgia and longing bound the The Last Holiday; Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; and How the Grinch
millions who listened to Bing’s crooning; sadly, far too many of our Stole Christmas.
Greatest Generation’s last white Christmas fell between the years Auld Lang Syne
1941 to 1945. At the stroke of midnight on December 31, the world will
Nostalgia and Longing once again be joined in a universal commonality when we all begin
This common thread of nostalgia and longing permeates the toasting “Auld Lang Syne,” the poem by Robert Burns that is widely
air in Naples around the Monday before Thanksgiving when Third regarded as “one of the world’s most popular songs that no one
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Street South launches its 46 Annual Christmas on Third. knows the lyrics to.”
Two weeks after Third Street’s tree lighting, comes the City of The tune can stop (well, you never really stop a Scotsman) even
Naples Christmas Parade on Tuesday, December 5 from 6-8 pm the wildest of ye’ Highlanders for a moment of reflection to honor
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commencing from Broad Street to 5 Avenue South, and finishing a time long gone. More idiomatically, “auld lang syne” translates to
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on 8 Street South. If you can’t make it downtown, turn on “old long ago” or “days gone by”— or simply, “the good old days.”
Channel 98 to watch it on the City Channel. While most Scotsmen believe they invented most things —and
To really drive home your nostalgia, you can drive through according to the book, How Scots Invented the Modern World, they
Victoria Park all December long. did; but they did not create the tradition of singing (miming is
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To keep those feels alive and well, come to 5 Avenue South for more like it) “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
their Christmas tree lighting and Christmas Walk on December 8 Bandleader Guy Lombardo gets the credit for this. So, you don’t
5-10 pm (6 pm tree lighting Sugden Plaza) and December 9 have to mime the words this year, here is your cheat sheet:
10 am-10 pm. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind?
The Christmas Boat Parade on Naples Bay may or may not Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne?
tweak your longing vibe, but it will for sure tickle your fancy on For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne,
December 9 beginning at 6:15 pm. Get there early for a good view. We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet, For auld lang syne!
All the aforementioned are free for you and your family and And there’s a hand my trusty fiere, And gie’s a hand o thine, And we’ll
offer a way to let your mind wander from the happenings in the tak a right guid-willie waught, For auld lang syne
world today. For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne,
Wistful Reverie We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet, For auld lang syne!
It’s natural to feel a longing for times gone by during the Remember these words and sing them loudly – loud enough to
holidays. According to the 2016 study from Scientific American, stop a longing Scotsman in his tracks.
these bittersweet feelings of nostalgia serve a positive function, …”
18 Life in Naples | December 2023
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