2023-12-30 10:25:00
You might think that she has a double reason to dress up in her 31st on this last day of the year. Christine Goethals was born on December 31. However, this Sunday, it is her birthday that she plans to celebrate, surrounded by her family and friends. An originality that surprises some of its guests when the birthday party is announced, the excitement of the party favors even making them forget the reason for the invitation…
Since her childhood, this Namuroise says she feels out of step with this double event. “As if I were experiencing my birthday on the fringes of those around me, the primary concern of most being centered around preparing for the transition to the next year.” This is why, every year, on this birthday, “I feel this vital need to escape into nature, to breathe in the particular smells that emerge at this time of the year, to walk , whatever the weather, in order to find a form of serenity, an inner peace which is necessary for me to refocus on the essentials and recharge my batteries far from all the ambient tumult.”
A ritual through which she reassesses her priorities and takes stock of the past year which, inevitably, coincides with the calendar year. “In a way, I kill two birds with one stone…” Practical! Happy birthday to Christine!
2: A “midnight ride”
For nine years now, Aurélie Saintes, a flying nurse at CHU-UCL Namur, has been providing support to various departments during New Year’s Eve. Of course, guards at the hospital are inevitable for her. “But I find my place there with meaning, empathy, duty,” explains this Rochefortoise. Because it’s hard to be hospitalized, it’s even harder on a holiday. I want to bring joy and balm to the hearts of patients.”
So, the nurse takes her time at everyone’s bedside. “Everything is calmer in the corridors, the atmosphere is particularly warm, the colleagues are more relaxed. The atmosphere is pleasant. And the families are grateful, with a kind word or gesture, a small gift.” Whether she is in the cardiology, neurology, or geriatrics department, Aurélie already knows where she will be at the stroke of midnight. “It’s the time when I begin my usual “midnight tour”, that is to say my tour of treatment and parameters in each room…” And for each of them to prescribe as first aid a “ Have a good year” !
3: On call for RTL
This New Year’s Eve, Julien Henrotte, freelance journalist at RTL, will be on the ground. A first for this young 22-year-old journalist from Verviers. “It’s a must at RTL,” he smiles. “They gave me the choice, but as I didn’t really have a plan this year, it was pretty good. My partner is also a journalist, so we had decided to both work that evening. I will be in the Liège office, she in Brussels.”
On the program: he offered a report alongside a duo of paramedics, on this particularly busy night. “It’s a great subject, where we’ll have to be creative with the images. And then, there’s also the adrenaline of following paramedics on duty. It’s a challenge!” Julien will work in duo with Marius, the cameraman. “It’s important to be a good partner: we already know that we will have a good evening (smile). Even if it’s special to know that all our friends will be partying while we work . But it’s not an unpleasant job, far from it!” Report to be discovered in the news on January 1st.
4: “On the plane, not much happens at midnight”
Pilot since 1995 for Virgins Express then Brussels Airlines, Marc Renard will celebrate the New Year in Yaoundé, Cameroon, this year. But there’s no question of partying, the next day he takes off again. “We take off on Sunday the 31st in the morning from Brussels to land on the 31st at 10 p.m., so we will arrive at the hotel around 11 p.m. We will probably have a little drink at midnight with the team and we will exchange greetings, then we will go to sleep “, explains captain Marc Renard. Every year, it is in October that they are asked to choose between Christmas and New Year. “I much prefer to be off at Christmas: it’s a family celebration! For the last two years, I was therefore abroad. There are always pilots and flight attendants in reserve too, they can be called back at the last minute and they pray that they don’t have to go to work (laughs).”
His wife understands the issues, she is a flight attendant, he smiles. If this year he will not be in the air for the New Year’s countdown, like last year, he assures that nothing special is happening… “I wish the passengers and crew well, but most of them are already asleep (smile). The flight is always full that night, and the next day too. Finally, there are a lot of people who don’t mind working during New Year’s Eve.”
5: Responsible young driver
For the third year, Adeline, 27, will spend her New Year’s Eve behind the wheel of a car. She is in fact a volunteer for the Responsible Young Drivers (RYD) association which is responsible for repatriating people who have drunk too much or are too tired to get back on the road the night of December 31. “It’s not that I don’t like celebrating the New Year, but it’s not essential for me,” explains the young woman. “I celebrated it for several years and now I prefer to make myself useful. What’s more , I love driving.” On New Year’s Eve, at 9 p.m., she joined the other volunteers, aged between 17 and 29, for the debriefing of the evening. Everyone is allocated an area in Wallonia or Brussels. Repatriations will begin at midnight until 6 a.m. “You need to have good resistance to fatigue,” smiles the driver.
Volunteers work in pairs. They go together to meet the person to be repatriated. One of them then keeps the service car while the other takes the wheel of the party-goer’s car. “It’s a great experience. We have a snack between us before leaving and then when we return at the end of the night. We share things with the other volunteers and with the people we repatriate.” Most are grateful. Adeline therefore plans to participate in the action until she turns 29, the age limit.
Responsible Young Drivers bring home people who have drunk too much or are too tired to get behind the wheel again. ©RYD
6: Ephise’s smile to forget 2023 as quickly as possible
They thought they could all be together for the New Year. But damn. They have just learned that this will not be the case. The results after the last chemo are not good; not good at all. We are now seriously considering a marrow transplant. And so there’s no question of spending New Year’s Eve at home.
Tomorrow at midnight, Ludivine Wislez will be at Saint-Luc hospital in Woluwe, near Ephise, with her 3-year-old granddaughter. She has been hospitalized there since last September. “We were on vacation. Very quickly we realized that she was not in good shape, that there was a problem. Ephise didn’t want to walk anymore, she felt weak and tired. She was suffering” explains Laurent, her dad, hairdresser and barber in Malonne (Namur).
Brutal return to Belgium. Blood test. Acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed. First chemo straight away for the 3 year old. Since then, they have followed one another. Sometimes, between two chemo treatments, Ephise was able to return home for a few days, to Maffe, near Havelange. “But it’s very rare. Fortunately there is WhatsApp and Messenger to keep family ties.” Because Ephise is the youngest of a large family. Laurent has two children from a first union. And three other children with Ludivine, aged 13, 10 and 6, who cannot go to the hospital because their little sister is too fragile and in isolation. “I had to reduce work, my salon is only open 3 days a week. If I wasn’t independent, I think I would be burned out…”
Ephise has been in the hospital for four months. However, she has morale and beautiful smiles to spare. ©njac
It’s true that in four months, their lives were completely turned upside down. Ludivine takes care of Ephise almost constantly at the hospital. “I have to run the house and ensure stewardship. As soon as I can, I head to Brussels to be near Ephise. It’s a real headache. Sometimes I have to travel 6 hours, two round trips, in the same day. Crazy stuff. Fortunately we are very united and solid. Without it, the family would explode.”
But that’s not the hardest part. “The hardest thing is living with this uncertainty of never knowing what tomorrow will be like. Sometimes we are full of hope. Then, we take a blow with a club. We are then all devastated.”
Nor the most important. “The most important thing is Ephise’s smile. She has an extraordinary mind. When she comes home, we no longer want to see her go back to the hospital. Yet, she goes back every time with a smile. She feels good there. She is well surrounded. I don’t think she even realizes she’s sick. They do an extraordinary job. The doctors, the facilitators, the psychologists, the teachers… It’s like a second family for her and that’s what, I think, is what keeps us going.”
As explained above, Laurent is independent. And is therefore obliged to work, even in these conditions. “I have no choice, the show has to work. There is no system that allows independent workers to cross in such situations. Either you cheat and you hit. Either you want to be honest and you die.”
On his living room door, Laurent pinned a small sign to explain the situation. “Apart from one fanatic who complained because he found the door closed, my clients are very understanding. Every day, they give me their support. They ask me questions. But it’s not unhealthy curiosity. It’s kindness. I love to chat, like all hairdressers. So it makes me feel good to talk about my daughter and my life. It helps me get through these difficult times. Seeing all these people getting news from Ephise boosts my morale. And then, we have very nice surprises, which don’t especially come from the people closest to us. Like this customer who came with great books for Ephise. She loves it. Because she never watches TV. Or this lady who drove 3 hours to bring some soup, chocolate and Christmas decorations to the hospital to put in Ephise’s room.”
For the first time in his career, Laurent will not work on December 31, which is the busy day in all salons. “I only think of one thing: being near my family. So, between my daughter or their hair, the question doesn’t even arise… And those who don’t understand just have to go screw themselves…”
7: Their New Year’s Eve? End of January, because it’s cheaper and much more fun
Initially, there was a real New Year’s Eve, on December 31, like everyone else. Then, as the family cottage located on the heights of Stavelot was occupied by his brothers and then his sister, he said to himself that he would celebrate the New Year at the end of January, in complete peace and quiet. Or even at the beginning of February, depending on availability.
Since then, every year, Nestor (that’s his nickname) receives his group of happy guys in his lodge to celebrate the new year a few weeks late.
“What’s nice is that everyone is finally freer in terms of family obligations. And that we can choose the date of the New Year… This also allows us to celebrate it longer with a pre-New Year’s Eve on Friday to get in shape, an outdoor day on Saturday to remove toxins, a real New Year’s Eve on Saturday evening with or without disguises and the real Liège choucroute of New Year’s Day on Sunday lunchtime, with the coin under the plate, before leaving us.”
Celebrating the New Year at the end of January has many advantages. Nestor details them, a big smile on his lips. “There is no rush to do the shopping and the price of game and oysters is much lower than on December 31st. The region is not invaded by the Dutch, always eager to find a lodging in the Ardennes to spend the holidays and drive up prices. Then, on Sunday, the bakeries are open to pick up croissants, which is rarely the case on January 1st. Finally, statistically, there is a much greater chance of having snow at the end of January than at the end of December” smiles Nestor, remembering a snowy New Year where his guests took out their kayaks for torchlight descents in the meadows next to the lodging.
But one small downside nonetheless…
“People don’t always really understand why fireworks are set off on Saturdays at midnight and this can create certain tensions. But the next day, when we give them three big kisses to wish them a happy new year, they understand who they are dealing with and are the first to toast the new year…”
8: “Being on a heavenly beach is more than enough for me”
“I’m used to having big parties for New Year’s Eve, every year it’s the big reunion with my friends! Afterwards, it was never something important for me, just the opportunity to see my friends again,” explains Guillaume, 31, from Habay-la-Neuve.
But this year, he will make an exception. “I started a world tour in January, and I am currently in Thailand, in Ko Tao. I was supposed to come home for the holidays, but I live my best life traveling so I decided to extend it! And even though there’s no shortage of opportunities to celebrate here, I don’t have any plans for the New Year and I’m so busy experiencing amazing things that it really doesn’t matter. For me, it’s a bit of a stupid party, with all the pressure we put on it. Being on heavenly beaches with friends is more than enough for me!”
9: “A pressure that displeases me”
Camille, 26 years old, from Huy. “Since I was a teenager, I have always been in a large group of friends with whom we party a lot. New Year’s Eve really was “the night of the year”, and I always found it a bit silly, because we were really at each other’s throats. We rented a room, the services of a brewer… While we had very nice evenings throughout the year! Out of pressure, I didn’t say anything, and I also wanted to spend time with my friends. But it was never the evening of the year! As soon as I started my law studies, I had the excuse of the blockade and the fact that I had to study to no longer celebrate it, and that was a huge relief to me. We had great parties, big or small, all the time, I didn’t miss it at all. Eventually, it allowed me to cope and today I have no problem doing nothing, just staying at home, sometimes alone or with one or two friends, watching the fireworks through the window. and go to sleep early. This social pressure displeases me, because we can have good evenings all year round, without ever forcing ourselves to have fun or pretend on a specific date because society tells us to do so!”
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