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Friday, December 23, 2022
Christmas 2022
63 comments:
Julian
said...
Thank you my friend - I feared I would never make it after that naked impression of Lyle Lovett I pulled on the bus, but in fairness, I WAS impaired from that bartender putting triple shots of tequila in my eggnog. Seriously, God bless you. My prayers and warmest wishes to you an your lovely daughter.
Well, it's always good to know that I made at least one "nice" list.
Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas, Stilt. I hope Santa found a nice single malt for you. Or at least some Clan McGregor, which is actually quite nice for a much less expensive bottle. Wish Daughter J. a Merry Christmas from me as well.
We won't have any snow here, although we'll have several days in the 20's. At this point we haven't seen any snow in five years but that's just how it goes in Southern Louisiana. I'm guessing that you had enough last year to last you for a while. Stay warm.
By the way, I've got four copies of "Home for the Horrid Days" arriving tomorrow. I told my nurses that they're coming and they can't wait.
Thank you! And God bless you and your daughter! Have the best Christmas you can have -- continuing to stay away from the news. Trust me on this one! Merry Christmas!
I'd like to thank Santa Claus and Alabaster Snowball for certifying my place on the Nice list. I also want to wish a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all!
I'd also like to thank @Stilt for hanging in there and doing his best to appear to have the appropriate spirit this year. We all know it's tough; keep at it please.
Phew! After running into the hardware store, shouting, “I need 25 lbs of quick lime, a shovel, and kerosene” I was worried I wouldn’t make the Nice List. Good to know I still have that marker. 😉
As we hold hands and march merrily into whatever 2023 holds in store for us, be of stout heart for God is still with us.
Merry Christmas, Stilt and Daughter J! Here’s hoping Santa left something special in your stockings this year.
As Christmas Time draws nearer And old Santa loads his sleigh He has a little list A not so little list Of various offenders Whom he'd wish would go away And none of them'd be missed
There's the shopper who takes two spots In the local parking lot The hoarder of the hot toys Who takes all the store has got And then marks them up five fold On an online shopping spot These folks he'll give a miss! 'Cause Santa they do...vex!
I saw Alabaster Snowball open for Mannheim Steamroller on Christmas Eve at the Armadillo World Headquarters many years ago!
Stilt, you and Kathy and daughter J are in my prayers every day, and I wish you the merriest of Christmases and Happiest of New Years. This is the time of year I miss my Susan most, but I make the best of the season with my friends and family that are here.
I've been reading your offerings for a long time now. Long enough that you're as much family as anyone else I know on this here planet. Thank you for sharing your horrible year and helping the rest of us realize how good we have it after all.
May the blessings of the season be yours and Daughter J's, and may the New Year be better for us all. Peace to all!
Merry Christmas, Stilton as well as to all of the regulars (and irregulars) who frequent this space. Hunker down and wrap up - if it isn't cold where you are now, it soon will be. Global whatever is on the way.
Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year to and Daughter J. Hoping the new year brings you peace and happiness. Merry Christmas everyone! Always remember the reason for the season!!!
A true honor to be included. Merry Christmas to you and yours. The Greeks use a whole bunch of different letters, but their phrase is “Memory Eternal”. Those we’ve lost live forever in our; and those who love us, memories. And we love you, and will keep you and yours in our Memory Eternal.
Merry Christmas and a Good new year for you and your family. I appreciate the efforts from your desk to my computer :) ... Love your insights and humor, did buy your latest from Google and remember the struggles and pain you are traveling through now. 2023 is looming like a giant thunderstorm, keep your peace and your brain in gear....
Certainly better than being on this list. The dystopian sci-fi future we've been warned about for the last century is now real and here.
Christmas at the Econ household is going to be a rather muted affair this year. I had a client that wanted a project completed before year-end and insisted that I be on-site last week. (I really would have preferred to oversee it remotely as I usually do these days) So my first airline trip in at least 3 years. The project concluded successfully, but a broken airplane sabotaged my trip home. With flights 100% full these days and after hours on the phone with the airline, I finally got an alternative plan to get home the next day that did not involve 6-legs bouncing all over the continent (which inevitably would have had me stuck even further away from home) or being in the back of a box truck with a polka band.
After gratefully arriving home, I wake up the next morning feeling like crap. Yup. The Wuhan Flu.
So I sequester myself downstairs keeping my distance from Mrs. Econ so that she doesn't get sick. No good. She comes down with a flu too which is much worse than what I have and isn't COVID. Go figure.
So either way, plans to be with family are gone. We're not even spending time in the same room with each other since we don't want to give each other whatever bugs we have.
Regardless of all that, we still feel blessed. We have each other, even if we're presently on opposite ends of the house. It's been well below zero outside and snowing, but we're save and warm inside. We know we'll be healthy again soon. We're blessed.
I am greatly enjoying my copy of "Home for the Horrid Days" wukkin' it up & learning new phrases with new phenomena to Google. @ Mike: The Armadillo Head Worldquarters were a lonnng time ago. Musta been in the mid-60s. I think it used to be a department store.
@Dear Friends & Family (you're both now)- Thank you so much for the various and frequently funny Christmas wishes. I really couldn't come up with words for today's blog post that felt right, so I just wanted to say thank you for your friendship and support. Daughter J and I aren't really doing Christmas this year, but the outdoor lights are jolly and we still plan to have some of our traditional goodies on Christmas Eve (velveeta, sausage, and Rotel in a crockpot, then drizzled over tortilla "scoops"). But we still maintain enough Christmas spirit to be grateful for what we have and to celebrate the goals of Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men.
Whatever your faith or lack of faith, we wish you all the best now and for the coming year. And if you get coal in your stocking, enjoy it - it will annoy Joe Biden.
Shalom aleichem, Stilton. My last Christmas with Ingrid was in 2018, still, every day is a miracle, and I am grateful for each day I am granted. ¡Feliz Navidad y un próspero año nuevo!
Understand not doing much of a Christmas. With Spousal Unit battling cancer and being pretty stove up as a result, we literally can't think of anything either of us want for Christmas. We're gonna settle for hot mulled wine in front of the fireplace and "White Christmas" on the TV.
@MAJ Arkay- I'm so sorry about the cancer battle and I wish your wife a good outcome with all my heart. I think sharing mulled wine by a fireplace and "White Christmas" on the TV sounds like the most wonderful Christmas imaginable. Cancer has an amazing way of reminding us what's really important and what's just "noise" and "stuff." Here's hoping that 2023 brings good things for your family.
One of my favorite curmudgeonly quotes: "One of the pleasures of age, unknown to youth, is the pleasure of NOT going." May you have, as we plan to, a pleasant Christmas, at peace, home, and not have to go anywhere.
Merry Christmas to Stilt, daughter Jarlsberg, and all the cheeseheads out there. Just trying to keep warm here. Little old wood stove is barely keeping up. Christmasing alone this year, which is fine with me. Don't care to travel in these conditions.
After playing Santa at the local historical museum during "Winterfest" I thought I finally had gotten the ChiCommCroup due to the runny-nosed kids crawling on me. No such luck according to a home test. So I have that to look forward to in '23.
I was in the Christmas spirit today until the pipe broke in the attic and flooded a bedroom. This same pipe burst in February 2021 and obviously the plumber did not insulate it properly. Here we go again with the nightmare! But I hope you and all my fellow commenters have a blessed Christmas.
Hope I am on your good list. Praying for a lot better year for you and your daughter next year. The Glan Macgreger was not too bad but I think I will spend a few dollars more for the next bottle of Scotch I buy.
@Shelly, recommend you invest in some heat tape designed for pipes. As long as a little warmth keeps the water running (drip water during the cold snap, too), that pipe won't freeze and burst.
In college, I crawled under my single wide and wrapped every pipe I found under there. Never had a single issue, no matter how cold it got (fortunately, the electricity never went out).
Thank you Sir Stilton for that nice Certificate. I intend to frame it and display it in a place of honor near the Christmas tree. Merry Christmas and best of the New Year to Everyone.
Awwww, that's so sweet Stilt! Thank You! Our holidays are kind of bust here. You know, I think my ass fell off from the weather being so cold and windy yesterday! Some of the grandkids have whatever is going around around their town, they are better but their mom has it now, lol, that's how things go. I'm dealing with a cat bite/scratch and mom is slowly getting more senile so it's a race to see who is going crazy faster this year. You and the group here helps keep me going, at least.
Happy Holidays to you and daughter J and the memory of those who have gone on before us. And especially to the rest of the crazy people on here. hug your families and fur babies, but maybe not strangers (unless you are lifting their wallet, lol). Maybe we should do a count your blessings list.
So: Alabaster has the laptop? When do we get to see the naughty list?
Meanwhile: Thank you very much for the Certificate of Niceness. It's my first one ever and I'm old. Ya'll are fine judges of character and there are many nice people here.
I am sorry to hear about your Spousal Unit's unfortunate situation - and yours as well. Like Stilt, I hope for a good outcome for both of you and will pray for you. If that is not the way things work out you, like Stilt, will be grieving.
Right now the important thing is that you still have each other. The most comforting thing for her is to know that you love her.
How, you may ask, do I know that? Well, as my nurses have told me, I shouldn't be making Super Bowl plans. In my case it will be I who am gone with my Annie left behind. I am well aware of her deep love and the grief that will follow. For me, thankfully, it will be over. Not so for Annie.
I can not tell you the difference that it makes in my life each and every day knowing that she loves me and that she is giving up everything that she can to care for me and make me comfortable without ever complaining. She cooks and cleans and, yes, even wipes my butt from time to time. She changes my oxygen and sets up my meds. She holds me when she sees the tremors start. All with a smile and with dozens of kisses every day. There is no gift that I could receive that would be better than that. And her reward? Grief to come.
I truly hope that there is a good outcome for both of you but if that is not to be, let her know just how much you care for her. But who am I to assume that you don't know all of this? That you're not doing that now? I don't. And I believe that you are. May God bless both of you. I'll be praying for a Christmas miracle for you.
@Paul Donohue- My heart aches for you and Annie. But because of our friendship and the similar straits we've found ourselves in, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Annie will be left with considerably more than grief. Oh, there will be plenty of that and it hurts like an SOB. But all those years of love and shared experiences also get stored and stockpiled and will continue to provide emotional sustenance - and sometimes even happiness and laughter. That's a lasting gift that you, and my Kathy, have already given.
Infrequent commenter, regular visitor. Words fail me, Stilton, on what it's been like for you to share your family's ride with us. The snark, the satire, the Johnny Optimism, are all tempered by knowing where your true heart lies, if you'll permit me to say so.
Just wanted to say, hope your Christmas was still good, despite all, and the New Year will be a good one for you.
Stilton: if they gave year-end awards for Best Heartbreaking Life Commentary, you would win hands down. What you and your family endured, I wouldn't wish on anyone, even a George Soros. What you taught the rest of us about life and continuing on is priceless beyond worldly treasure. May the New Year be kind to you and Daughter J, and may golden days be yours.
@Paul Donohue, Spousal Unit and I offer you and Annie a huge hug and prayers.
SU's battle is actually going very well, we think. PSA went from 444 when it was first diagnosed down to 0.24 last month. Got another Firmagon injection on Tuesday (it's a monthly thing), and takes Tamsulosin and Erleada (that's a co-pay that raises one's eyebrows and tanks the budget) to starve the cancer cells. No more catheter, much to both our relief. Had three kyphoplasty operations to remove the cancer out of the spine and repair the hairline fractures, and 20 radiation treatments to cut back on the pain and leg spasms (which worked). We'll see the oncologist on 5 Jan to determine what's next.
I took care of Mom when she broke a knee, ankle and two ribs in a car wreak. Her situation was more difficult for me, as she literally couldn't walk or do much of anything for herself, and I had only combat basic first aid training. But her immune system frightens germs, viruses, and such, and at 97 she's still going strong (we took away her car, though, and moved her in with Sister -- and they're happy).
Those lessons learned came in right handy as SU's muscles started to atrophy. Growing up on a farm and spending my life in the military also helped -- my old bones are quite strong enough to heave SU, the walker, and whatever else is needed that day.
Also, having good folks like you, Stilt, and my writers group, the North Texas Troublemakers, to lean on helps immeasurably. I even get time to write, occasionally.
Bless you all, and make 2023 be better than 2022, which I must say, and I quote: Stink, Stank, Stunk!
63 comments:
Thank you my friend - I feared I would never make it after that naked impression of Lyle Lovett I pulled on the bus, but in fairness, I WAS impaired from that bartender putting triple shots of tequila in my eggnog. Seriously, God bless you. My prayers and warmest wishes to you an your lovely daughter.
Well, it's always good to know that I made at least one "nice" list.
Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas, Stilt. I hope Santa found a nice single malt for you. Or at least some Clan McGregor, which is actually quite nice for a much less expensive bottle. Wish Daughter J. a Merry Christmas from me as well.
We won't have any snow here, although we'll have several days in the 20's. At this point we haven't seen any snow in five years but that's just how it goes in Southern Louisiana. I'm guessing that you had enough last year to last you for a while. Stay warm.
By the way, I've got four copies of "Home for the Horrid Days" arriving tomorrow. I told my nurses that they're coming and they can't wait.
a,b,c,d,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z
That's the "Not 'e' list!"
Merry Christmas, Stilt!
Thank you! And God bless you and your daughter! Have the best Christmas you can have -- continuing to stay away from the news. Trust me on this one! Merry Christmas!
Thank you for the Nice listing,now if you can just get me on the wifes nice list that would be some achievment.Miracles may be next year.
Sorry,I sent before the MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Excellent Sir! Peace be with you. Merry Christmas and wishing you a much happier and better new year.
Thank you so much! I now have hope for Christmas.
The worst list I am on, and can not get off of, is the Honey-Dew List.
Stilton Jarlsberg, Merry Christmas and a Better New Year.
Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to you and daughter J.
I'd like to thank Santa Claus and Alabaster Snowball for certifying my place on the Nice list. I also want to wish a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all!
I'd also like to thank @Stilt for hanging in there and doing his best to appear to have the appropriate spirit this year. We all know it's tough; keep at it please.
Phew! After running into the hardware store, shouting, “I need 25 lbs of quick lime, a shovel, and kerosene” I was worried I wouldn’t make the Nice List. Good to know I still have that marker. 😉
As we hold hands and march merrily into whatever 2023 holds in store for us, be of stout heart for God is still with us.
Merry Christmas, Stilt and Daughter J! Here’s hoping Santa left something special in your stockings this year.
As Christmas Time draws nearer
And old Santa loads his sleigh
He has a little list
A not so little list
Of various offenders
Whom he'd wish would go away
And none of them'd be missed
There's the shopper who takes two spots
In the local parking lot
The hoarder of the hot toys
Who takes all the store has got
And then marks them up five fold
On an online shopping spot
These folks he'll give a miss!
'Cause Santa they do...vex!
Practically writes itself, it do. ;-)
Brilliant! May the coming year see happiness for all.
Ditto to all the comments!
Merry Christmas, Stilt
Merry Christmas!
I saw Alabaster Snowball open for Mannheim Steamroller on Christmas Eve at the Armadillo World Headquarters many years ago!
Stilt, you and Kathy and daughter J are in my prayers every day, and I wish you the merriest of Christmases and Happiest of New Years. This is the time of year I miss my Susan most, but I make the best of the season with my friends and family that are here.
Mike
I've been reading your offerings for a long time now. Long enough that you're as much family as anyone else I know on this here planet. Thank you for sharing your horrible year and helping the rest of us realize how good we have it after all.
May the blessings of the season be yours and Daughter J's, and may the New Year be better for us all. Peace to all!
Merry Christmas, Stilton as well as to all of the regulars (and irregulars) who frequent this space. Hunker down and wrap up - if it isn't cold where you are now, it soon will be. Global whatever is on the way.
I want to wish Stilt and Everyone a Merry Christmas.
Jack
Merry Christmas, Stilt, Daughter J, and everyone. And to all a good night!
Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year to and Daughter J. Hoping the new year brings you peace and happiness. Merry Christmas everyone! Always remember the reason for the season!!!
...New Year to YOU and Daughter J.. Hands are to cold to type this morning :-)
A true honor to be included. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
The Greeks use a whole bunch of different letters, but their phrase is “Memory Eternal”. Those we’ve lost live forever in our; and those who love us, memories.
And we love you, and will keep you and yours in our Memory Eternal.
Merry Christmas and a Good new year for you and your family. I appreciate the efforts from your desk to my computer :) ... Love your insights and humor, did buy your latest from Google and remember the struggles and pain you are traveling through now. 2023 is looming like a giant thunderstorm, keep your peace and your brain in gear....
Merry Christmas everyone. Stilt, wishing you and daughter J a happier New Year.
Finally! A list worth being on. Thanks, @Stilton!
Certainly better than being on this list. The dystopian sci-fi future we've been warned about for the last century is now real and here.
Christmas at the Econ household is going to be a rather muted affair this year. I had a client that wanted a project completed before year-end and insisted that I be on-site last week. (I really would have preferred to oversee it remotely as I usually do these days) So my first airline trip in at least 3 years. The project concluded successfully, but a broken airplane sabotaged my trip home. With flights 100% full these days and after hours on the phone with the airline, I finally got an alternative plan to get home the next day that did not involve 6-legs bouncing all over the continent (which inevitably would have had me stuck even further away from home) or being in the back of a box truck with a polka band.
After gratefully arriving home, I wake up the next morning feeling like crap. Yup. The Wuhan Flu.
So I sequester myself downstairs keeping my distance from Mrs. Econ so that she doesn't get sick. No good. She comes down with a flu too which is much worse than what I have and isn't COVID. Go figure.
So either way, plans to be with family are gone. We're not even spending time in the same room with each other since we don't want to give each other whatever bugs we have.
Regardless of all that, we still feel blessed. We have each other, even if we're presently on opposite ends of the house. It's been well below zero outside and snowing, but we're save and warm inside. We know we'll be healthy again soon. We're blessed.
Merry Christmas.
Thanks, Santa. I've been Stilton's friend for a long time. Nice to have a certificate that says so.
I'm new to Stilton's Place, but a big fan already!
Merry Christmas to all...and to all a good year ahead!
This Santa Claus idea has always confused ne: Santa is Spanish and female (Santa Monica, Santa Barbara) while Claus is German and male.
I am greatly enjoying my copy of "Home for the Horrid Days" wukkin' it up & learning new phrases with new phenomena to Google.
@ Mike: The Armadillo Head Worldquarters were a lonnng time ago. Musta been in the mid-60s. I think it used to be a department store.
@Dear Friends & Family (you're both now)- Thank you so much for the various and frequently funny Christmas wishes. I really couldn't come up with words for today's blog post that felt right, so I just wanted to say thank you for your friendship and support. Daughter J and I aren't really doing Christmas this year, but the outdoor lights are jolly and we still plan to have some of our traditional goodies on Christmas Eve (velveeta, sausage, and Rotel in a crockpot, then drizzled over tortilla "scoops"). But we still maintain enough Christmas spirit to be grateful for what we have and to celebrate the goals of Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men.
Whatever your faith or lack of faith, we wish you all the best now and for the coming year. And if you get coal in your stocking, enjoy it - it will annoy Joe Biden.
Shalom aleichem, Stilton. My last Christmas with Ingrid was in 2018, still, every day is a miracle, and I am grateful for each day I am granted. ¡Feliz Navidad y un próspero año nuevo!
Merry Christmas to you and daughter J. Wishing yoiu a New Year filled with peace, joy and many blessings.
Merry Christmas to you and your family ...Ken
Understand not doing much of a Christmas. With Spousal Unit battling cancer and being pretty stove up as a result, we literally can't think of anything either of us want for Christmas. We're gonna settle for hot mulled wine in front of the fireplace and "White Christmas" on the TV.
Hope 2023 is a better year for the Jarlsbergs.
Stilton and daughter J.: Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Bobo in AZ.
@MAJ Arkay- I'm so sorry about the cancer battle and I wish your wife a good outcome with all my heart. I think sharing mulled wine by a fireplace and "White Christmas" on the TV sounds like the most wonderful Christmas imaginable. Cancer has an amazing way of reminding us what's really important and what's just "noise" and "stuff." Here's hoping that 2023 brings good things for your family.
One of my favorite curmudgeonly quotes: "One of the pleasures of age, unknown to youth, is the pleasure of NOT going." May you have, as we plan to, a pleasant Christmas, at peace, home, and not have to go anywhere.
Merry Christmas Stilton to you and J. All the best. Keep pushing forward!
Merry Christmas to Stilt, daughter Jarlsberg, and all the cheeseheads out there. Just trying to keep warm here. Little old wood stove is barely keeping up. Christmasing alone this year, which is fine with me. Don't care to travel in these conditions.
After playing Santa at the local historical museum during "Winterfest" I thought I finally had gotten the ChiCommCroup due to the runny-nosed kids crawling on me. No such luck according to a home test. So I have that to look forward to in '23.
Wishing you and daughter J a happy and blessed Christmas!
I was in the Christmas spirit today until the pipe broke in the attic and flooded a bedroom. This same pipe burst in February 2021 and obviously the plumber did not insulate it properly. Here we go again with the nightmare! But I hope you and all my fellow commenters have a blessed Christmas.
Awww. Thank you, Stilton. Merry Christmas to you and all your friends.
Merry Christmas SJ.., thank you for having me on the ‘good list’
Merry Christmas and say hello to Big Thor at the Hiney Winery !!
Thanks for the nice list. At least there is one place where I can be properly credentialed.
Sincere wishes for peace and happiness to all of you, especially the Jarlsberg family!
Hope I am on your good list. Praying for a lot better year for you and your daughter next year. The Glan Macgreger was not too bad but I think I will spend a few dollars more for the next bottle of Scotch I buy.
@Shelly, recommend you invest in some heat tape designed for pipes. As long as a little warmth keeps the water running (drip water during the cold snap, too), that pipe won't freeze and burst.
In college, I crawled under my single wide and wrapped every pipe I found under there. Never had a single issue, no matter how cold it got (fortunately, the electricity never went out).
Thank you Sir Stilton for that nice Certificate. I intend to frame it and display it in a place of honor near the Christmas tree.
Merry Christmas and best of the New Year to Everyone.
Merry Christmas.
.
NSF
Awwww, that's so sweet Stilt! Thank You! Our holidays are kind of bust here. You know, I think my ass fell off from the weather being so cold and windy yesterday! Some of the grandkids have whatever is going around around their town, they are better but their mom has it now, lol, that's how things go. I'm dealing with a cat bite/scratch and mom is slowly getting more senile so it's a race to see who is going crazy faster this year. You and the group here helps keep me going, at least.
Happy Holidays to you and daughter J and the memory of those who have gone on before us. And especially to the rest of the crazy people on here. hug your families and fur babies, but maybe not strangers (unless you are lifting their wallet, lol). Maybe we should do a count your blessings list.
A Blessed Christmas!
Wee fish ewe a mare egrets moose, panda hippo gnu deer!
So: Alabaster has the laptop? When do we get to see the naughty list?
Meanwhile: Thank you very much for the Certificate of Niceness. It's my first one ever and I'm old. Ya'll are fine judges of character and there are many nice people here.
@MAJ Arkay
I am sorry to hear about your Spousal Unit's unfortunate situation - and yours as well. Like Stilt, I hope for a good outcome for both of you and will pray for you. If that is not the way things work out you, like Stilt, will be grieving.
Right now the important thing is that you still have each other. The most comforting thing for her is to know that you love her.
How, you may ask, do I know that? Well, as my nurses have told me, I shouldn't be making Super Bowl plans. In my case it will be I who am gone with my Annie left behind. I am well aware of her deep love and the grief that will follow. For me, thankfully, it will be over. Not so for Annie.
I can not tell you the difference that it makes in my life each and every day knowing that she loves me and that she is giving up everything that she can to care for me and make me comfortable without ever complaining. She cooks and cleans and, yes, even wipes my butt from time to time. She changes my oxygen and sets up my meds. She holds me when she sees the tremors start. All with a smile and with dozens of kisses every day. There is no gift that I could receive that would be better than that. And her reward? Grief to come.
I truly hope that there is a good outcome for both of you but if that is not to be, let her know just how much you care for her. But who am I to assume that you don't know all of this? That you're not doing that now? I don't. And I believe that you are. May God bless both of you. I'll be praying for a Christmas miracle for you.
Merry Christmas and thanks for bring some joy to this otherwise joyless world.
@Paul Donohue- My heart aches for you and Annie. But because of our friendship and the similar straits we've found ourselves in, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Annie will be left with considerably more than grief. Oh, there will be plenty of that and it hurts like an SOB. But all those years of love and shared experiences also get stored and stockpiled and will continue to provide emotional sustenance - and sometimes even happiness and laughter. That's a lasting gift that you, and my Kathy, have already given.
Infrequent commenter, regular visitor. Words fail me, Stilton, on what it's been like for you to share your family's ride with us. The snark, the satire, the Johnny Optimism, are all tempered by knowing where your true heart lies, if you'll permit me to say so.
Just wanted to say, hope your Christmas was still good, despite all, and the New Year will be a good one for you.
@Paul Donohue, blessed is the man who has a good woman.
My prayers are with Annie to sustain her before and after the inevitable.
@John the Econ
Thank you, John. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.
Stilton: if they gave year-end awards for Best Heartbreaking Life Commentary, you would win hands down. What you and your family endured, I wouldn't wish on anyone, even a George Soros. What you taught the rest of us about life and continuing on is priceless beyond worldly treasure. May the New Year be kind to you and Daughter J, and may golden days be yours.
@Paul Donohue, Spousal Unit and I offer you and Annie a huge hug and prayers.
SU's battle is actually going very well, we think. PSA went from 444 when it was first diagnosed down to 0.24 last month. Got another Firmagon injection on Tuesday (it's a monthly thing), and takes Tamsulosin and Erleada (that's a co-pay that raises one's eyebrows and tanks the budget) to starve the cancer cells. No more catheter, much to both our relief. Had three kyphoplasty operations to remove the cancer out of the spine and repair the hairline fractures, and 20 radiation treatments to cut back on the pain and leg spasms (which worked). We'll see the oncologist on 5 Jan to determine what's next.
I took care of Mom when she broke a knee, ankle and two ribs in a car wreak. Her situation was more difficult for me, as she literally couldn't walk or do much of anything for herself, and I had only combat basic first aid training. But her immune system frightens germs, viruses, and such, and at 97 she's still going strong (we took away her car, though, and moved her in with Sister -- and they're happy).
Those lessons learned came in right handy as SU's muscles started to atrophy. Growing up on a farm and spending my life in the military also helped -- my old bones are quite strong enough to heave SU, the walker, and whatever else is needed that day.
Also, having good folks like you, Stilt, and my writers group, the North Texas Troublemakers, to lean on helps immeasurably. I even get time to write, occasionally.
Bless you all, and make 2023 be better than 2022, which I must say, and I quote: Stink, Stank, Stunk!
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