MERRY CHRISTMAS 2002
The season of our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's celebrations is a season of happiness and hope, a season when we count our blessings, give to others, look forward. I don't write about religion in these pages. Fortunately, the secular side of Christmas and the other, secular holidays is enough to remind us of other times, other places, and give us comfort. Maybe it's the nostalgia of remembering seasons past, memories dating from childhood, that makes us feel good right now. Maybe it's the opportunity to give that makes the season special. Or maybe it's the reminder in this season of how lucky we are, lucky in our friends and family, lucky in our opportunities, lucky in our health.
This was a particularly fortunate year for me. I've already written about my first vacation, the wonderful old and new friends I saw in Germany, the wonderful opportunity to visit the home of golf in Scotland. I've been encouraged to take another vacation next year and I've already planned "Golf Fest 2003". I've reported at length on my shoulder surgery and the recovery from it. My surgeon recently confirmed that I continue to make progress and that I should achieve full strength in six more months. My general health is good: My internist recently retired and I found a wonderful young doctor to replace him. At Thanksgiving, I met several cousins I didn't know before and was pleased and impressed at how nice they were to me, how well they're living their lives. I've been in touch with old friends, met a few new friends and feel that, given all the circumstances of my life, I've been fortunate in my friends. I've spent a lot of time with my partner's two-year-old son and I'm continually amazed at his progress and I try to look at the world through his eyes. The wonder he finds in everything that is new to him makes me feel younger. Business is not great but we've avoided any layoffs and look forward to better times. All in all things are pretty good and I believe, even at my age, that the best is still ahead of me.
I didn't always look at things this way. In the past, I used to look at the bad things in my life without valuing the good things. I used to get frustrated and angry at things that didn't go my way. I wasn't always grateful for friends and family, for kindnesses, for opportunities to help others. I haven't achieved complete success in eliminating the negatives in my life, I haven't made all the improvements I want to make, but I have made progress. When I made my new year's resolution to be nicer to myself this year, I wasn't thinking about pampering myself, about surrounding myself in luxury, I wasn't thinking about avoiding problems and becoming self-centered, self-indulgent. I was thinking about forgiving myself for my past errors, doing the best I can to eliminate future errors and making progress towards my goals. I'm happy to report that I've made progress this year. It doesn't mean I'm finished, that I have no more work to do. But it does mean that I can continue to make progress.
Most importantly, this year tells me that I can listen to my own advice, be a better person, help others. The mere making of my list of things to be thankful about improved my mood and made me think I'm making progress. So my Christmas wish and gift to all of you is this: Give as much as you can, try as hard as you can to be a better person, be happy with what you have.
Happy Holidays from Your Internet Grandfather.
12-23-02
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