A YEAR FULL OF MEMORIES

Thinking about the yultide season has not been promoted by weather  in the 40;s nor by the absence of  last years snow cover of eight inches.I need only to remember  Christmases past as a child when i was frustrated because i couldn’t ride my brand new tricycle in the snow.I guess riding a sled wasn’t a bad second best.

xmass and new year

The “Bells are ringing” for Alice this year. Her long-gone senses of taste and smell have returned just in time for the Fraser fir tree in the living room and for the baking Christmas goodies.as you may remember ,for years she has consulted with people who look to her for guidance in an effort to augment what they choose to do in dealing with various maladies.This was a case where she had to wave the white flag of surrender and see a real,live doctor.Leaving aside the clinical details,her sinuses were about as bad as can be(no cavities), but now the worst has been overcome.

The high point of our summer was a three-week stint during which Laura was here from phoenix with two of her boys,Orion(10) and Wesley(8).The boys and i went fishing, hitting golf balls,swimming,exploring,and best of all spent several days in the Dells. “WooW Grandpa! look at all that water!” They tried to find out just how well one could become on a water slide(s).Do you know how difficult it to pick out two bobbing heads among hundreds of other bobbing heads? shortly after they returned to phoenix, they resumed  classes at their Montessori school for which we are ever so grateful as an opportunity for them.we are not sure if it means more for them.

As i have done at least once in the past,I have again chosen to forego my annual political/economic diatribe.None of it would be in keeping with the spirit of the season, i assure you.ask for my e-mail address if you want to be turned to “channel  Bob.” as we look to the beginning of yet another year,we bring this one to a close .Naturally it went better for some than others.

It’s one thing to express the wish,as we do for you,that yours will be truly a merry christmas and a healthy and happy new year,but its another to actually make a difference in the character,the joy of christmas for others. Fortunately,there are thousands of ways and stories of those in the spirit of christmas as it relates to giving,the very antithesis of Scrooges. one such person was a very anonymous woman who walked into a store offering customers the reprise of the time-honored,”Lay-a-way”plan where one selects a gift(s) and makes regular , periodic payments in an effort to pay for and secure the item in time to give.sometimes ,the best laid plans of christmas mice and men go awry, and the payments cannot be made on time in which case santa’s bag will be light if not empty.  This woman stepped up to the counter, “Joe Six Pack”, dressed for rough work (or rough tough times) was to make a payment.  It is not clear if he was there to make a payment for the balance or just an installment.  Not to worry!  She paid it off.  He was dumb-struck, and who wouldn’t be,  She did this for dozens more at the store, explaining that her husband just died, her husband,”Bud”,and this is what he would have wanted.