Today is the 50th anniversary of my father’s death. My brother Rich sent me a copy of a prayer card that he had been carrying in his wallet all these years. I had one word for him “Wow”. Rich, put that back in your wallet and bring it out ten years from today.
My father died of heart disease way before his time. Back then, they didn’t have any good treatments for heart attacks. My father had his first heart attack when he was about 56. He was in the hospital for a few days. He was sent home and told to rest. But that didn’t kill him.
He was born in February of 1901 in Western Massachusetts. He married my mother on March 3, 1946. My guess is they waited until the end of WW2. Interesting bit of trivia. March 3 is also my birthday (2 years later).
In November of 1966, he went in to the hospital for gall bladder surgery. He survived that surgery but had complications, internal bleeding. So the surgeon scheduled another surgery to fix the leak(s). The second surgery did the trick, ie. it killed him. Cardiac arrest on the table. He was revived but never regained consciousness. He was on life support for about 6-8 weeks.
So I have already outlived my father by about 3 years so far. My Dad never got to see me graduate from college or get married. He never had the joy of meeting his grandchildren.
Sometimes I wonder whether I have my father’s genes or my mother’s. My mother lived to be 89. I’m hoping that I have my mother’s genes. Just sayin’. Rest In Peace, Dad.
So we had an early Christmas with Mike and his family. They were heading up to the SF bay area to visit some of Theresa’s family, then to Reno for fun in the snow. It was fun to watch video of Jonathan taking his snow boarding lesson. He still hasn’t quite figured out the brakes yet. The kids seem to be enjoying the snow.
Our grand-kids missed the first parts but made it in time for the visit of Santa. They were at another Christmas party for the kids. The kids have more Christmas parties than we do.
Once last letter about Mary before Christmas.Today was a busy day. On the docket was the Assistance League Christmas Luncheon at Michael’s Tuscany Room in San Pedro. Up late last night working on Paula’s agenda for the event. Then when I was about to print the thing, I found that I was out of paper. All I could find was a package of fancy paper. It would have to do. Finally got to bed.
So the first batch of Christmas Letters were mailed today. This batch was about 75 or so letters. This batch required no hand-written input from Paula. So off they go.
Time for an update. Mary has been doing pretty well the past couple of weeks. She has been going to physical therapy twice a week. It seems to help a little bit. She still complains of dizziness, especially in the mornings. For that reason, we try not to schedule anything for her early in the morning.
It is time to reflect on all that we are thankful for this year. First and foremost, I am thankful for my lovely wife, Paula. She has been my partner now for 38 years. She has been by my side through thick and thin, good and bad. I don’t know what I would do without her.
on her using the walker. The walker has made a world of difference. She has been doing physical therapy twice a week. Sometimes, she tries to blow it off, complaining of dizziness. Most of the time we insist that she go. “It’s for your own good” and “We made an appointment for you”, etc.
I was saddened to hear today that 
calherewecome 