Refrain: 

We welcome the future

We remember the past.

The New Year beckons,

"Ring out the old!

Ring in the new,

Shining like gold.

Refrain: 

We welcome the future

We remember the past.

For Joys yet untasted,

For Sorrows unknown,

For tears to be shed,

Healing laughter sown.

Refrain: 

We welcome the future

We remember the past.

For patience, understanding,

For fear laid aside,

Animosities banished,

And love kept alive.

Refrain: 

We welcome the future

We remember the past.

For those we have lost

Who have gone on before,

Memories woven deep

In our personal lore.

Refrain: 

We welcome the future

We remember the past.

For wonder to dwell

In our breast, on our brow,

Friends, family and life,

Embrace them we vow.

Refrain: 

We welcome the future

We remember the past.

To cherish the past,

With the future in view,

Is to hope and to dream,

Of a world built anew.

Refrain: 

We welcome the future

We remember the past.

We will cherish the future,

As we cherish the past.

Leanne K. Johnson

copyright December 29, 1999