Time Marches On

This has been a difficult week for me. It started with my coming down with either a cold or possibly the flu. I had the typical head congestion, scratchy sore throat, ears itching, hacking cough, lots of yucky drainage, headache, achy body and slight fever off and on. It goes without saying that this is the worse possible time to get sick as you can imagine.

One thing that I did get to do was to spend time to really look over and read the Christmas cards I had received and continue to bring in daily. Some contained pictures, some had notes and all contained warm wishes for the Christmas season and for the coming year. Three of them were particularly touching in some way.

One of those three was from my oldest daughter, who recently remarried. The card was made from a photograph taken by a friend right after the ceremony. The picture is not all that great but greatly appreciated since I was not there for the wedding. After I scanned the photo portion of the card, I did my best to enhance it as much as possible.

Shawn and Jamie with Anna and Kayla

click to enlarge
I have met Shawn and will see him, Jamie and the girls in a few days. I'm headed down after Christmas for a couple of weeks. Shawn will get his fill of his new mother-in-law. Kayla, I get to celebrate your birthday with you again!

The other two cards that affected me came from family members of my friend Margaret, who passed away in June 2007. Margaret's husband remarried several months ago to a woman from the Philippines. He is currently there with her but they plan to come back to the states in a few months. According to the letter he enclosed with the card, their plan is to return here, sell the house he and Margaret lived in and move to the Dallas area where both of his children are currently living. He and his new wife Eloisa will also return to the Philippines from time to time where her family remains. She appears to be a lovely lady and I will most likely meet her in April next year when they get back.

I also got a card from Margaret's daughter Tracy that included a picture of her three year old son. Gage was Margaret's pride and joy. She had about a year with him before her health began to fail and the results of cancer, if not cancer itself, ravaged her body for months before giving out completely. It meant a lot to me to receive that picture along with the card.

I still miss Margaret tremendously. You don't lose your best friend, your touchstone and not feel it on some level the rest of your life. It is also good to be reminded that life goes on and that is the way it is supposed to be.

I am happy for my daughter and her new husband. I am also happy for Glynn and Eloisa. I wish both couples all the happiness in the world. As for Gage, I hope to get pictures of him for many years to come. It does me good to see that crooked little smile. I know exactly where it came from.