Peace

Dear readers, I'm going to put my blog on a holiday schedule for awhile. After tonight's post, I'll take the Christmas weekend off. I'll probably write one or two posts next week, and then take the New Year's weekend off. Merry Christmas, and peace and love to everyone.

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Last year on Christmas Eve our family decided on the spur of the moment to go caroling at a nearby nursing home, so we blew out the candles on the tree and drove over there. Most of the residents seemed unaware of their surroundings, and it was the kind of nursing home where that might be a blessing. Some of the residents, though, were pretty with it, and a couple of visitors asked us to sing in their rooms. One of those was a Hungarian woman who told us about her mother, a patient who was suffering from Parkinson's disease. The woman sadly said that she didn't think her mother would make it to next Christmas, and you didn't have to be a doctor to see that she was telling the truth.

At her request we sang "Silent Night." The woman started crying shortly into the song, and by the end of it my eyes were feeling pretty leaky too. Anyway, we came home to open our presents, and after seeing those patients and how fortunate I was compared to them, I really didn't care anymore what I got for Christmas.

May all of you be fortunate enough to not care what you get for Christmas. Have a wonderful holiday.