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WHen I was younger and both my paternal grandparents were alive (my grandmother still is, my grandfather died when I was in 4th grade) we used to get a phone call, every Rosh HaShanah and secular New Years from them. This isn't so unusual- they called often, and we saw them often: they lived in the same town, at what is now a walkable if not quick (maybe 2 miles) distance. We had dinner with them on Fridays, and they babysat for Em and I so my parents could go out and relax. (We saw my maternal grandparents every Sunday: we had a level of family contact that most kids don't get, and which I feel very, very grateful for.)
But back to the customary phone call. They'd call, and one would be in the kitchen of their house and the other would be upstairs so they could both be on the phone at once. They'd call and wish us (well, my parents, but it went for all of us) a "happy and healthy New Year". Inside the nuclear family, it's been a running holiday joke ever since. But I send new years greetings, even if only by IM, to my friends, and I can't help but adding the "happy and healthy" in some form to the greeting. I don't know if it's custom, of habit or superstition, but it needs to be there if I can put it there. It just feels more complete. Maybe it's a way of linking the past and the future; my childhood with the new year.
But back to the customary phone call. They'd call, and one would be in the kitchen of their house and the other would be upstairs so they could both be on the phone at once. They'd call and wish us (well, my parents, but it went for all of us) a "happy and healthy New Year". Inside the nuclear family, it's been a running holiday joke ever since. But I send new years greetings, even if only by IM, to my friends, and I can't help but adding the "happy and healthy" in some form to the greeting. I don't know if it's custom, of habit or superstition, but it needs to be there if I can put it there. It just feels more complete. Maybe it's a way of linking the past and the future; my childhood with the new year.