Diane and Ed’s Holiday Missive 2021
Well, it's Christmas and it will be a good one despite Santa's decision to stop producing toys, clothing, and electronics at the North Pole in a cost reduction move. Santa also replaced all his elves with Prime and UPS drivers. The Elves now work in Long Beach helping reduce the port backlog and save the many presents stranded 20 miles off the California coast. The Elves find dock work more demanding than toy-making but the weather is much better.
In January Diane convinced me that the new fountain of youth was a puppy. We got an eight-week-old parti (black and white) poodle, Marlowe. The next six months of our lives consisted of feeding, training, and cleaning up after a puppy that channels the spirit of Harpo Marx at the drop of a hat, shoe, or tool.
In July we left our furry friends in the care of our good friend Max for a few days R&R. Avila Bay is the perfect place for seniors who have PTSD (Puppy Training Senior Dementia). We happily convalesced for three days of good food and wine. Upon our return, Max told us he would be happy to watch Marlowe again if we would provide him with a hazmat suit and tranquilizer gun.
In September we took another trip. This time it was to Santa Barbara. We love California's coastal cities. We browsed shops and toured historical sites. Many of these sites were younger than I.
In October Diane and I celebrated our 58th anniversary by hosting a dinner with our kids and grandkids. At the dinner I showed a slide show of our lives together. I kept the family riveted to their chairs by threatening not to pick up the tab, and by promising to keep nostalgia under five minutes, I came in at 3 minutes and 40 seconds. Only one or two family members were asleep when the show finished. Since then I've had a nagging feeling that I may have missed a few high points of our life together, but if you would like to peruse all 37,648 photos that didn't make the show due to time constraints, I can send you the file for a nominal fee.
November 10 is the Marine Corps birthday and 59 years ago the Corps gave me direction and bruises when I had none. It also gave me lifelong friends I still cherish. Semper Fi! Then comes Thanksgiving. It has no presents, costumes, or fireworks. It does have friends, family, and food. Our kids Ed and Jenn their spouses Blythe and Nick, and the grandkids celebrated with us. I made homemade cranberry sauce. My sauce is like the proverbial loaves and fishes; though everyone has eaten their fill, I still have the same amount I started with...hmm?
Our last trip for this year was to the Gaslamp District for a few days romp (Do septuagenarians romp?). We took a city bus tour. San Diego has significantly changed since our last visit. I'm not sure when that was. I know it was a year that ended in a four, but I'm not sure of the decade. We stopped by the harbor to help the Elves unload toys, but their union rejected us for being too tall. So we had to be content with great food and holiday festivities.
It was a challenging year, as most are, but it was our year to make new memories, and we did. So on to our next year of making memories of laughter or tears, lived with gusto.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year