A Family Christmas

Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas to each of you where ever you are tonight / morning. As I linger before the fire having listened to the three tenors on PBS and now take a moment to reach out to each of you I do so with an awareness that this Christmas eve is very different. Its a new experience of being here alone after all these years of enjoying this time with Nan. Yet enough time has passed so an internal acceptance has taken place. Our family experienced the unthinkable, we were slammed with a disaster not of our own making.
I have so much respect for my children, through it all they have been solid and just great. They have always struck the right balance between living their lives as normal as possible yet being completely supportive and caring. This evening was a prime example of that. Nikki and Steve welcomed us all into their home which was Christmas decorated perfectly with lights on the outside, a beautiful tree , a great meal and most of all just time to observe the three little kidos mingle and have fun. Timothy is so much fun to watch as he runs, not walks around in his tiny jeans. He was so kind to Kallie and they shared many moments together, Keanna kept them both busy with toys, ideas and excitement and when it came time to open tonight's gifts they took turns opening their little books, toys and fun things. My gift will keep on giving since it is a digital picture frame where family photos can be loaded and the display changes from one photo to the next. It will be great when I get it loaded up with family pictures.
Many pictures were taken and soon I'll have some to share here on the blog. I've long wanted to get a photo of the three kidos with me that I can have on my desk, in the cars and the motorhome. In a special God given way they are the light of my light.
Steve and Nikki did a great job of hosting the evening and I want to express my thanks to them for opening their home.
This morning I woke and decided that once it was 8 am I would call Tracy Honda to see if I could buy two tires. At 7:55 I called and they said bring it in. Well it took a while to get there, I had to eat something and then make a deposit on the way. They were really helpful and eventually decided to honor the $290 price they had quoted me for each tire. About 2 and 1/2 hours later they were done. Sylvia had suggested I could come to her home to wait and so the customer service van delivered me there. That was much nicer than sitting in the little waiting room.
When I returned home this afternoon I set to wrapping presents and Lois was kind enough to assist. Just when I was finally through wrapping the phone rang and it was Nikki saying they were ready for me to come over. Nice timing and thanks Lois for your help and ideas.
Now Christmas eve is history and a great memory of a family caring for each other.
I sincerely hope you are enjoying this season and can be with close friends and family. Take extra time if you plan to travel, winter is really here. My brother called from Weed which is near Mt Shasta and his world is white with deep snow but he is warm and enjoying a great time with family, good food and a new puppy.
So I'm sending love to each and every one of you, life may not be fun or rewarding or even friendly at times but life is still a very precious reality that we get to make decisions about, we can complain or be thankful, be down or search for hope, be alone or reach out to another, hold to faith or despair, plan to help someone, anyone the Lord places within your reach. We can brighten our world by being proactive, by trying, smiling, listening, sharing, we have a chance since we are alive, lets really live!

love

tim