Author Archives: Lois A. Bolin, Ph.D.

At the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, the world will once again be joined in a universal commonality when we all begin to sing “Auld Lang Syne,” the poem by Robert Burns that is widely regarded as “one of the world’s most popular songs that no one knows the lyrics to.” The tune can stop (well, you never really stop a Scotsman) even the wildest of ye’ Highlanders for a moment of reflection to honor a time long, long gone.

’Twas the night before Christmas when all through Naples’ town
It was silently eerie as the sun settled down
When all of a sudden, in a moment of flash
Came a sound of loud creaking — as this spirit did dash
“What was that?” I asked to an old man who happened by

One hundred and sixty-six years ago today, Nov. 17, 1843, a novella about a miserly, cold, hard-hearted curmudgeon and his spiritual deliverance after being visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve was published. The dickens, you say?

“Family life is full of major and minor crises — the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage and divorce — and all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories. With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality. It’s difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul.”