New Year's Eve · A friend · Heartfelt · about a minute
New Year's Toast After a Hard Year (About 1 Minute)
A man who spent much of the year in and out of the hospital wanted to thank the friends at his New Year's party without retelling the whole year.
Given by Earl, at the end of a long year. 132 words. The names are made up.
The toast
Most of you know what this year was for me, so I won't go through it. Short version: a lot of hospital, and not much else.
What I want to talk about is the clipboard. In May, when I couldn't get out of bed, Gilbert taped a sign-up sheet to my fridge for walking my dog. Morning slot and evening slot. I figured it would last a week. It lasted until October. Twelve of you, a hundred and sixty-some walks, and somebody wrote "rain, still went" next to almost every Tuesday.
I don't know how to thank you for that, so I'm going to try here. Next year, I'm walking him myself, and you're all invited.
Please raise a glass. To the clipboard, and to every one of you who signed it.
Why it works: He covers the illness in one sentence and spends the toast on what his friends did, which is the part he wants remembered. The sign-up sheet is specific enough to picture, and the note in the margin says more about them than any thank-you could.
Make it yours
Borrow the shape, not the lines. Put your own people, your own year and your own detail in each spot, or answer a few questions and get a first draft built from them.