"Merry Christmas!"

Hello, my cheeky wee monkeys!
It's been awhile since we last visited together!
Sorry if this post's title isn't "politically correct"...
but it IS Christmas time.
It's what I celebrate, what most of my friends and family celebrate, and even my one Jewish friend who's pretty much an atheist even celebrates it.
And it's a "Christmas tree"...not a "Holiday tree".
Not any more than a Menorah is a "holiday candelabra", or a "Kikombe cha umoja" (a Kwanzaa communal unity cup)...
is a "family holiday spitoon".
It's my custom to say Merry Christmas.
And I'm not gonna change that because some hardcore atheist in West Bumfuck, North Dakota thinks it offends his little yuppie larva's "delicate sensibilities".
In a time of such hate, violence and war... why anyone would wanna limit greetings and customs that promoted peace, love & brotherhood even more is beyond me.
I think that some people in the world have nothing better to get their twitches in a snit and a bug up their ass about, than to pick on stoopid crap like that.
To my Jewish friends... Happy Hannukah.
To my African-American friends who celebrate it... Happy Kwanzaa!
For my Atheist friends... have a nice weekend!
But for my Christian friends... for God's sake, loosen up dat sphincter muscle...
Just say Merry Christmas!

So since I've posted here last, things have been going along fairly smoothly.
Although I am still getting crazy side effects from my medication, my last doctor's visit brought me the good news that my viral load went down to ZERO.
Which is a good sign.
If it stays that way throughout the rest of my treatment...
I may just beat this thing.

Since my last post, Thanksgiving passed...
and I celebrated yet another birthday.
(47 for those keeping score.)
And now Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye...
and a fresh New Year will soon dawn upon us.
And I find I've had lots of time to reflect.

The past year or so has played out like a bad country western song for me.
Unemployment, getting sick, having a 7 yr. love affair come to a close...
and then finding out my mom has lung cancer and given 2 to 6 months to live.

But yet through it all... I have faith.
And hope.
Somedays... datz ALL I got... is HOPE.
And with all the "bad hands" that I've been dealt over the past year or so, I gotta say...
life still ain't dat bad.
Sure... things get a bit "sparse" around here towards the end of the month.
I can't always afford life's little luxuries that I would like to have.
I don't live in a fancy apartment or condo, or own a car,
I'm sick and weak more often than I have strength due to my treatment,
I sometimes get lonely,
and worry about becoming homeless after Mom goes...

But then I look at a little down & out homeless guy I know named "Rockin' Ray", an ex-hippie, with no family, that plays guitar in the freezing cold for change, just to get a hot meal and a beer.
Yet always greets me with a great big happy & smilin'...
"Howz it rockin' Eddie!".
I see people who have much more devastating illnesses, and afflictions than I do, and still go on.
I look at the victims of Katrina, and the Tsunami.
And I know people who never even knew their mother...
and not be as blessed as I have been, to have spent 47 years with mine.
(The way this stubborn old Pollock mother of mine has been of late... I may just spend a few more years with her. She seems to be proving them wrong so far. Guess she's holdin' out to see the new grandmonkey that's comin' soon!)

So basically, I'm not wearing rags, I got a warm roof over my head, the bills are paid (mostly), we have enough food to make it thru each month, cable TV, and a PC with an internet connection...
what more in life could ya really ask for...?
I'm getting well, getting my act together, and all the rest of life's little hurdles will all get sorted out, mended and healed over time.

Christmas this year will be a real simple and humble one.
No one around here can really afford presents,
but we'll have each other.
A nice dinner together, trimming our 2 foot Charlie Brown Christmas tree, and hanging out with each other.
And that's really what the holiday is all about...innit...?
I won't be getting any wonderful presents this year...
no cameras, iPods, big screen TV's, new computers or even my two front teeth.
(got da teeth already... bought 'n paid for... sit in a cup at night!)
But looking at my life...
I'm wealthier than Bill Gates,
I have the greatest gifts of all...

Kids.
Who tho sometimes drive me crazy,
I wouldn't trade them for the world,
who love me back, even with all my imperfections,
and are my singlemost treasures in life.



Kelly


Stephie


Colleen

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Grandkids
Who are great to have around, and even better to watch go home to their parents... yet are also a blessing, and the future.



Rene


Lil Albie


"Working Title: Cadence Dorothy"

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Friends
Who listen to me bitch & moan, pick me up & dust me off when I fall, laugh at my jokes, and tell me what I need to hear...
not what I want to hear.



Morty


Greg


Harry & Lori


Sara Jane


Tara
Even tho my "ex-wife", and we have our "sour spots"... is still one of the dearest friends I have over the past 25 yrs.


Spooky
"The monkey cat from Mars."


Walt
Who tho has passed on into the great beyond...
was my mentor, my teacher, my big brother, my shrink...
but above all...
my friend.
His spirit is still with me every day.


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But my greatest gift of all this Christmas,
is the precious time I still have left to spend with the person who gave me the gift of life...

Mom


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Some people go thru life never even being close to as blessed as I have been with these wonderful & cherished gifts of family and friends.

I wish you all the same blesings, and a wonderful & Happy Holiday!