Xmas 2013

Life has its ways of teaching us about life.
Yesterday, the 23rd, I took a friend of mine to the oncology clinic.
He was too week to drive there.
His weekend had been miserable but he never called me.
He suffered his weekend in silence.
When I picked him up at home he looked like a zombie.
He is undergoing chemotherapy and is not doing well.
After seeing the doctor, however, he was a new man.
He did not even look like the same sick man.
I was amazed at the difference a trip to the doctor would make.
I was amazed at what an oncology doctor could do.
The doctor told us to come back today.
And so today, the 24th, I took him back to the clinic for a checkup.
After that we had lunch and I took him back home.
Wine actually tasted like wine to him today.
The food tasted good too, so he told me.
And he actually looked somewhat upbeat although rather tired.
But this story is not about me.
It is about my friend.
It is about the oncology patients.
It is about the oncology clinic staff.
It is about people who fight for their lives,
and the people who help them in their fight.
It is about the foundations that invest in this fight.
It is a different world they live in.
A world about which we have no clue.
Today, the 24th, I gained a new appreciation for all of them.
Patients, doctors, nurses, receptionists, lab operators, you name it.
This 24th I want to forget about electronic gadgets, new fashion statements,

Xmas presents, treats and plentiful food on the table tomorrow.
These are all meaningless.
Really!
And this 25th I want to be with them, the patients, the doctors, the nurses,

the receptionists, the lab operators.
That is where life is celebrated!
That is where Xmas has meaning or not.
That is where 2014 is decided!
God bless them all!

Happy 2013!

Today is the last day of 2012!
Let 2013 be a year full of new expectations, new plans, new successes and new joys!
  
I want to extend these wishes to all the people who are an integral part of my life.
The people who share the day to day with me. 
The people who put up with me the way I am. 
The people I depend on to be a reasonably well functioning adult.
The people who help me function within this complex society of ours.
 
But I also want to extend these wishes to all the others who were, at some point or another, an important or a passing part of my life.

Those who were my friends and with whom I shared wonderful moments.
Those who gave me work and trusted me to accomplish what they expected of me.
Those who protected me from harm and those who helped me in need.
Those who served me in all types of capacity with dedication and a smile.
Those who shared the highways and the narrow roads of this land with me.
Those who made my life less pleasant but were, nonetheless, teachers in the art of living.

To all of those people I am grateful for who I am today, on this last day of 2012.
And to all I do wish a very successful 2013 full of the joys of life.

And last, but not least, the woman who is my irreplaceable companion.
Happy 2013! I love you! 

p.s. She knows who she is!