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The Christmas Letter

The Christmas Letter

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Kim and I have sent out a Christmas letter for as long as we have been together.  I have never shared it on the web so this is a first.  If you happen to be one of those folks who got one of these in the mail, make sure you drop to the bottom and read the follow up to the letter.

 

Christmas 2016

The Grinches Who Tried To Steal My Christmas

On the 16th of December, with Christmas Eve just eight short days away, my good friend from childhood, Matt, called me to see how I was doing.  Towards the end of the conversation he asked:

“Well I guess we should be getting your Christmas letter soon?”

“Man,” I said, “I haven’t even written it yet.  With everything that’s been going on I haven’t felt like it.”

Since the first Christmas that Kim and I spent together, we’ve been committed to always making Christmas special.  We created new traditions as a new family.  Even when it seemed like it would be impossible to enjoy even a moment of Christmas, like the Christmas of 2002, we did everything we could to make it enjoyable.  And it was memorable, as were the rest.

But let’s face it sometimes life throws you a few curve balls.  On top of that, kids grow up, have their own families, and begin to start their own traditions.

And the next thing you know, you are taking down all those boxes and containers with Christmas decorations, taking a look inside,  then putting the lids back on and taking them back up to the attic.

Because this is the year you decide to make Christmas simpler and only put up a few decorations.  You leave that big artificial tree that needed to be assembled and disassembled in the box; and you put up a real tree that you can throw out on the curb right after Christmas.

And instead of the elaborate outside lighting scheme you have traditionally done with the LED lights you bought from Sam’s Club and the iron tripod garden thingies you made to look like Christmas trees; you opt to just purchase a laser projection light so that you can project on the side of your garage with hardly any set up time or effort.

Then you come home one evening to find the reason that your new laser projector isn’t working properly is that there is no longer a new laser projection light at the end of your extension cord! Because, just like in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, someone has stolen your Christmas decorations!

Then you laugh to yourself as you realize that this is just the perfect event to cap off an already less than perfect Christmas.

And let’s be real here, there is a point where your now 28, 30, and 34 year old daughters have got to be sick of wearing the matching Christmas pajamas you have made them wear the last 16 or so years.

Yeah that’s right, what’s the point?

Maybe you shouldn’t write that Christmas letter…who is going to want to read about what a lousy Christmas season you are having anyway?

Then…from out of the blue…

You get a call from a member of your church family who just decided on his way home from work to call you to see how things were going.

Then the next week you get a call from that good childhood friend who also just wanted to see how you were doing.

And on top of that, you get that call while driving home after having just finished your second week of your new job.

Then once at home, you take a good look at the Christmas photo on your new Christmas cards that just got delivered the evening before because you didn’t feel like ordering them either.

And you see your three daughters all grown up and how beautiful they are;

And that you now have a son-in-law in the photo too;

And you see their kids…your grandchildren.

And you see your wife and how timelessly beautiful she is…

And you realize just how lucky you are:

To have friends who care enough about you to call;

To have a new work family;

To have beautiful daughters who have grown up and have started to build their own families;

To have a son in heaven waiting;

To have two wonderful grandsons and maybe a new granddaughter next July;

And last but not least,

To know that you were lucky to meet and marry a woman who you still think was an angel sent from heaven.

And all of a sudden you realize that maybe those Grinches didn’t steal your Christmas after all.

Maybe that person who took your new laser projector needed it more than you did and right now it is projecting on the front of his house with his beautiful children inside warm and making their own memories.

And you helped make that happen.

Yeah that’s right, maybe this Christmas is going to be just as memorable as all the rest that you have celebrated.

Because maybe you really do have “So Much to Be Thankful for This Holiday Season” after all, like your card says!

And maybe it was YOU who was the Grinch all along!

 

So, from ME and the rest of my beautiful family, we hope your Christmas is just as memorable as ours.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Kim, Curt, Savannah, Cameron, Hayley, Alexa, Namaan, Christian, and Donny too!

 

PS: Thanks to my friend Matt for providing the inspiration and kick I needed to write my Christmas letter; and thanks to Jesus for the rest.

(End of Letter)

Follow up:

I tried to mail most of our cards and letters out on Sunday the 18th.  On Thursday evening I was sitting on the couch reading while Kim was finishing up some work when the doorbell rang twice very quickly.  Thinking it was the UPS guy I walked to the front door and peeked out the window expecting to see the UPS truck idling in the street out front but when I saw no truck I realized someone must actually be at the door.  I opened the door to find no one on the porch, but there was wrapped gift sitting squarely at the top of the steps.  I went out on the porch and retrieved the gift, giving one more look around the yard and down the street, seeing no one I went back in explained what had just happened to Kim.

I unwrapped the gift to find someone had gifted us a new laser light.

With a brief moment of winkage, I thought to myself how amazing it was that the spirit of this Christmas continues.

I don’t know who out there made that thoughtful gesture but if you happen to be reading this, I thank you.

I set the new light up yesterday in the front yard.  But this time I thought I would make it a little harder to steal by attaching it to a cinder block with a heavy gauge bicycle lock.

It surely has been a memorable Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all!

You can steal this one if you want, but you are going to be moving a little slower
Mother’s Day Angels

Mother’s Day Angels

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Picture1

Lying in her bed, early in the morning

The cell phone rings with a message that reads

“Thinking of you, have nice day”

She puts her head back down on the pillow and starts to cry

Here we go again this year

It’s another Mother’s Day

 

I don’t remember which year, which Mother’s Day I wrote that, the opening paragraph of a longer piece I never finished.

It’s another Mother’s Day.  They are all a little different and unfortunately all have their similarities.

Today started with the similar, some sadness, some tears.

Kim decided to make a visit to the cemetery to visit Donny, and this is where it got different.

While there she felt a hand on her back.  It was a woman.  The women explained she had been walking by and saw Kim there.

And her heart felt heavy.

She started to walk back by again but again she didn’t stop.  And again she said she felt the Lord heavy on her heart and she felt like the Lord wanted her to stop and talk.

And so the third time she decided to walk up to Kim.

She told Kim “your son is always going to be with you even though he is with the Lord.”

And she said “It’s okay to cry.”

 

I don’t know who that women was who felt the need to stop and talk to Kim on this Mother’s Day, but for today to me she was an angel.  Like the young person who sent the text messages to Kim for many years on Mother’s Day, “Thinking of you, have a nice day.”  That act of thoughtfulness was huge.   To me,  he was also an angel.

And though the day started very similar to many other Mother’s Days I remember, this one had its story that made it different and as a result helped make it better.

Because just like the stranger in the cemetery said “it’s okay to cry,” it’s okay to be happy too even though you might feel like you shouldn’t.

So Happy Mother’s Day to my wife and to all the mom’s out there.  I am sure you all have your angels too.

 

Sheltering in Place Prodigiously

Sheltering in Place Prodigiously

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FotorCreated
Cameron’s First Prodigious Snowstorm

I am currently sheltering in place.

I have never done that before. Or at least if I have, I have never called it that before. Sheltering in place is a frequently used term now but it is usually associated with something sinister. Thankfully I have never had to experience that and certainly feel for those who have.

But the radio stations are calling what I am doing this weekend sheltering in place. It makes it sound kind of scary and I feel like maybe I should be concerned.

Unlike the last time it snowed really bad in the DC area and I had to spend days in the house with my wife and kids without work to worry about….it was just called chillin’ then, having fun, relaxing in my place.

But now I am sheltering in place and now I look around the room and see my wife, my daughter, my grandson, and my cat….and I wonder what sinister deed should I be worried about?

Is Savannah going to make her hamburger and codfish casserole again for dinner tonight? That could certainly be scary…

And will the power go out causing us to lose the cable TV and the internet? That would be dastardly too!

And what is the cause of all this commotion?

This Prodigious snow storm they are calling Jonas!

pro·di·gious

1. remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree.
Synonyms: enormous, huge, colossal, immense, vast, great, massive, gigantic, mammoth, tremendous, inordinate, monumental

Okay I am not ashamed to admit that I had to look that word up after the news guy on the radio used it to describe this storm. I have always been mindful of the fact that my vocabulary was not prodigious. And though I have tried to work on that, I have always been a little self-conscious about it; especially since I enjoy writing.

The radio announcements kept encouraging everyone to stock up on nonperishables in case the power went out; to get gas for our cars and generators; to get batteries for our flashlights; and to get cash in case the power goes out and the ATM’s don’t work.

And the people listened because the truth is there has been a prodigious reaction by everyone who lives around here to this prodigious storm and there is probably not a gallon of milk between here and Pittsburgh.

Well, at least most listened.

You see, all that was kind of a problem for me. A week from payday and my bank account was anything but prodigious. I had a prodigious amount of batteries but they were the little ones since my wife and I didn’t communicate well at Christmas and we both bought prodigious amounts of AA and AAA batteries. So I scoured the house for little flashlights… you know the kind they hand out at trade shows or make key chains out of.

And I didn’t have any nonperishables. I had plenty of food in the freezers….but those are perishable. I suppose I could barbeque as the thaw occurred but did I have enough propane? And I suppose if things got really bad around here we could eat the cat…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

food, yeah we could eat the cat food since that’s a nonperishable… but no I think I would be digging my way to a MacDonald’s in a warm State by that point…….

But then it occurred to me that maybe what’s really sinister about all this is this word prodigious……..maybe that’s what is really bothering me.

Maybe it isn’t just my vocabulary that is not prodigious, maybe that is not the only thing I have to be self-conscious about. Maybe there are other aspects of me that are not prodigious…my 401K…my master bathroom…my intelligence…my chest hair…

..so just leave me alone while I shelter in place.

Oh well, I guess we all can’t be prodigious in every way.  At least I have lots of batteries for the remote control.

You know I always thought it was really annoying when you could tell that someone just learned a new word because they insisted on using that new word prodigiously.

Man I hate that.

Three Score and Counting

Three Score and Counting

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Score One

It is January 1st 1956 and I am alive. I am not breathing but it is okay. I am not eating but that is okay too, I am not hungry.
It is dark and I cannot see, but my eyes do not see anyway, yet I am starting to squint.
The claustrophobia that will plague me later in life is not a problem now.
I am starting to suck my thumb and I am about the size of a lemon.
For maybe the only time in my life, I am safe and warm and content.
The lifeline that keeps me alive is my mother.
In less than six months I have a name. I have a brother who is 2 and half years older than me and a sister four years older.  Within five years I have a younger brother as well.
I go to school when I am five. Fearful of embarrassment and disappointment, I do well in school, at least until the distractions of my early teenage years win over the priorities that should concern me.
By the end of high school those priorities are realized once more. But unfortunately the damage is done and the old college try ends in its first year, emotionally unprepared.
I begin to build the work ethic that will drive me later in life, though my mind is still not prepared.

Score Two

 

It is January 1st 1976 and I am still alive, though sometimes I wonder how.

I am breathing but some might say I am just taking up air. I am hungry and I am eating.
My lifeline is still my mother.
I continue to work and take another try at building my mind but again that is short lived.
I follow my misguided heart away from my childhood home to a new life in a new state. This time I finish my education and find a career.
I have a daughter, then four years later I have another.
My career does well and I advance up the ladder.
But at home hearts grow cold and mending seems hopeless.

Score Three

It is January 1st 1996 and I am still alive. In less than six months I will turn forty years old.
Cold hearts prevailed and soon I am on my own again, my lifeline is now just me.
But that doesn’t last too long as an angel appears and half way into the millennial year my life is shared once again with a new wife and daughter and son.
So now married again with two more children we blend our families the best that we can and we are happy.
Though my career begins the score nicely it ends early in and before the summer of 2000 a new one is cultivated.

I am starting all over again.

But the work ethic kicks in and we do what we need to do to take care of our new family.
Then tragedy strikes with an accident one day that takes the life of our son at the age of fifteen.
And though never the same our family moves forward with the help of God.

More changes occur as the kids grow older.
Now with two grandchildren and the kids all grown up, we still work to make it all good every day, learning that kids will always be kids no matter how old they get.
Working too hard, life seems always too stressful, as the third score comes to an end.   Once again career changes occur and the rebuilding begins once more, though this late in life I am not so sure.

I am no longer the size of a lemon, far from it. And though my eyes are working I struggle to see and the squinting that started at fourteen weeks is frequent again.
And though I don’t suck my thumb, some days I feel like I want to. And I have learned that safe, warm, and content are all relative now.

My lifeline is my wife. Without her I would starve physically and emotionally. We have endured much the last almost twenty years. Yet it seems like just yesterday that I was blessed with that first introduction. Contentment in this part of my life is not relative.

And Counting

Now it is January 1st, 2016 and yes I am still alive and breathing.  In less than six months I will turn 60 years old.  I have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to in what may be my last 20 years though modern medicine may challenge that.
And on this day let the musings begin as I embark on a new adventure and my fourth score.
Happy New Year