This Christmas

[Oops - we forgot to post this one!]

Hi, Boyfriend here.  I'm writing because Girlbert continues to struggle with nausea, fatigue, and the lingering remains of another cold and as per Boyfriend's orders is resting on the couch.

This Christmas is, alas, passing so quickly.  And well, it continues to do so.   Today [Wednesday]  we dealt with three separate legal / financial matters and two different health issues.  Tomorrow we get to wrap a few presents for each other.  And go to the clinic for blood work.  But, "quickly" is relative and it doesn't seem to matter how old you are - Christmas just goes truckin' on by all the same.

Recently we drove to the barn to visit Lisa's old and ailing horse Stevie; and while Lisa licked Christmas card envelopes she read the names out loud.  It was a long list.  But one that should have included even more.  All we could write were a few brief lines.  "Merry Christmas!  Love, Us".

As I drove, listening to Lisa, I thought about how little that is.  And about how many more we were leaving out.  All the same, it was one of the few things we could do, it took Lisa a lot of effort and was so rewarding.  The only other thing we've really been able to do is for a neighbor, T. who doesn't eat as well as he ought.  Every so often, Lisa makes a tomatillo salsa and we bring him some because he loves it.  It's the smallest thing but it can mean so much.

It made me think about my Uncle's brother, G., who has Down Syndrome.  Every Christmas for as long as I can remember, he'd politely open his presents which were always pens and the notepads he so loved "writing" in.  But the best part for him is passing out the presents - that's when his eyes sparkle with joy.

On Monday afternoon we went to the ER.  We had packed for who-knew-how-long a stay in the hospital - every time we'd been to the ER in the past she'd been admitted.  Lisa had a 100.9 fever and with a very low white blood cell count, her doctor thought we needed to go to the ER for more blood tests.  Her white blood cell count was still the same old low it's been for months now so they percribed an antiboitic just in case and let us go home that evening.  

This year, we have so little to give, not just in gifts, but in time, presence and energy as well.  And medically, there's nothing anyone can give Lisa that will change much at this point.  So we're just plain grateful for our friends and the ability to go home and have a normal day.

That's really the best Christmas present ever.  No one on earth can give that to you.  But it's something we're just eternally grateful for.  Christmas passes quickly - savor every day.