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Merry Christmas
Noel Preston, MD
Christmas, it has been said, is for the young, but it's really for everybody. To those of us in senior citizenry, like Dickens' Ebenezer we look back on Christmases Past but still delight in Christmases present. Like the old Timex watch commercials, we take a lickin' and keep on tickin.' . We may be a little chipped and dented, but we're still glad to be here. Most people I know that are my age have experienced at least a few of the following:
the death of a parent, spouse, sibling, or child a divorce a cancer scare, either for themselves or a close family member the loss of a home to a fire, tornado, or hurricane having to get a special someone out of jail an IRS audit having a truck run over and kill your 12-year-old's 8-year-old dog losing a job or a house or a boat or a car to circumstances beyond your control being adopted and searching for and finding your birth parents and learning they don't really care not getting accepted for college or business school or a fraternity or the football team or cheerleading squad or a really great job And Christmas keeps on tickin' too. Ready or not, whether you've addressed and mailed Christmas cards, bought and wrapped presents, decorated your tree or prepared Christmas Eve Dinner, OR NOT, Christmas is coming December 25 in all its inevitable majesty, chaos, splendor and joy.
Whether you're a ten-year-old who finds a shiny new bicycle under the tree or a ten-year-old who doesn't, Christmas comes. Whether you're ten years old or 85, Christmas is when you get what you always wanted (or not), when you get something totally unexpected, when you get something absolutely splendid or something totally silly. Christmas has a mind of its own. It's coming, no matter what the ACLU tries to do, and sooner or later it's over, no matter what.
With that thought in mind, here are my Christmas greetings:
Greetings to mailcarriers, who (most of the time) unfailingly deliver letters of comfort and threats of lawsuits and notices of sales and bills and flyers addressed to "occupant."
Greetings to farmworkers, who pick oranges and apples and lettuce and hazelnuts. Greetings to bakers and cooks who create delicious desserts and pastries. Greetings to lobstgerpeople and cowpeople who bring us endless joys of summer, with butter.
Greetings to writers, directors, producers, musicians and actors and actresses, for treating us to their talents and letting us see and hear the amazing, frightening, beautiful, exhilarating sights and sounds of life itself.
Greetings to friends who make blueberry pancakes and blueberry pies and put blueberries in my Cheerios for breakfast on summer mornings in Maine.
Greetings to soldiers and sailors and marines and coast guard people and air force people, who give us way too much so that we may stay safe and secure and learn about terrorism and disasters from afar instead of up close and personal.
Greetings to my four daughters and their splendid husbands and their amazing, funny, smart, and gorgeous children, who enrich my life and lift my soul and keep me thinking young instead of old and crabby.
Greetings to the ACLU: God still loves you, and believe me, I'm trying.
Greetings to God, who gave us a special baby so that all of us might celebrate a meaningful, happy, and spiritual life at Christmas and forever.
And lastly, Greetings to Friends and Family just for "Being There"
when needed and to whom I wish a beautiful holiday and New Year filled with love and happiness.
Merry Christmas!
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