Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Merry Christmas 2021

It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.

OMG, Mary was up at 2:00 AM, 3:15 AM, 4:00 AM, 5:30 AM, and finally, 6:30 AM, looking for Santa. At 6:31 AM, I put a chocolate chip cookie into a plastic bag and told her it was from Santa!  I asked Mary what she wanted for Christmas, and she told me, “Nothing would make her happier than a diamond necklace,” So I bought her nothing.

We worked together, getting ready for our family to join us at 1:00 PM.  We are getting good at this entertaining thing because all was ready to go in a matter of minutes!  OK, perhaps not minutes!

The crew began arriving right on time, and we had more food than we knew what to do with spread out all over the kitchen.

We join together to celebrate the season.

The kitchen was filled to the brim with goodies, and it did not take much t get everyone up and moving.  I entered what I ate today into my new fitness app, and it just sent an ambulance to my house.

There was food as far as the eye could see.

I waited until last to go through the line and make my plate.   Since I had my gastric bypass surgery in 1998, I eat like a bird; unfortunately, that bird is a California condor.

Everybody enjoyed visiting and swapping stories about Christmas.

The family joined us.

Bob enjoys candlelight dinners. I told Bob the most stressful thing about being a dragon was trying to blow out the candles on a birthday cake.

I was sorry that I made Bob feel bad when I mentioned when a candle eats another candle, it is called candlebalism!

Bob lights the candles with his x-ray eyes.

Vicky brought a game; you ask questions, and people can respond to the question in two minutes.  We all took turns, and it was pretty funny!

Vicky brings a game to play.

Joe said he was a light eater.  As soon as it’s light, he starts to eat.  This trip was his fourth time through the line.

Chief food taster.

The giggling turned to belly laughs as the game went on!  Vicky now answers the question, “What was the craziest spoof you ever played on a co-worker?”

Hoots and hollers from the table on the right.

Mary had to come over and see what was going on.

Amy joins the fun.

Even the kids on in on the fun!

Mr. Helper is ready to go!

Nick tells a story!

Mary answered one of the questions.

“I love family.”

Bob and Donna added to the enjoyment of the party.

Bob always brings delight to the party.

Now is is time to have the questions, “When did your parents lie to you?” answered by Miss Donna!

The candles are getting low, meaning the evening is coming to an end.

It’s getting late.

The rains came again!

We cleaned up a little before going to bed; we were tired!

Twas the night before Christmas, but Covid was here,
So we all had to stay extra cautious this year.
Our masks were all hung by the chimney with care
In case Santa forgot his and needed a spare.
With Covid, we couldn’t leave cookies or cake
So we left Santa hand sanitizer to take.The children were sleeping, the brave little tots
The ones over 5 had just had their first shots,
And mom in her kerchief and me in my cap
Had just settled in for a long winter’s nap.
But we tossed and we turned all night in our beds
As visions of variants danced in our heads.Gamma and Delta and now Omicron
These Covid mutations that go on and on
I thought to myself, “If this doesn’t get better,
I’ll soon be familiar with every Greek letter”.

Then just as I started to drift off and doze
A clatter of noise from the front lawn arose.
I leapt from my bed and ran straight down the stair
I opened the door, and an old gent stood there.

His N 95 made him look pretty weird
But I knew who he was by his red suit and beard.
I kept six feet away but blurted out quick
” What are you doing here, jolly Saint Nick?”

Then I said, “Where’s your presents, your reindeer and sleigh ?
Don’t you know that tomorrow will be Christmas Day? “.
And Santa stood there looking sad in the snow
As he started to tell me a long tale of woe.

He said he’d been stuck at the North Pole alone
All his white collar elves had been working from home,
And most of the others said “Santa, don’t hire us!
We can live off the CERB now, thanks to the virus”.

Those left in the toyshop had little to do.
With supply chain disruptions, they could make nothing new.
And as for the reindeer, they’d all gone away.
None of them left to pull on his sleigh.

He said Dasher and Dancer were in quarantine,
Prancer and Vixen refused the vaccine,
Comet and Cupid were in ICU,
So were Donner and Blitzen, they may not pull through.

And Rudolph’s career can’t be resurrected.
With his shiny red nose, they all think he’s infected.
Even with his old sleigh, Santa couldn’t go far.
Every border to cross needs a new PCR.

Santa sighed as he told me how nice it would be
If children could once again sit on his knee.
He couldn’t care less if they’re naughty or nice
But they’d have to show proof that they’d had their shot twice.

But then the old twinkle returned to his eyes.
And he said that he’d brought me a Christmas surprise.
When I unwrapped the box and opened it wide,
Starlight and rainbows streamed out from inside.

Some letters whirled round and flew up to the sky
And they spelled out a word that was 40 feet high.
There first was an H, then an O, then a P,
Then I saw it spelled HOPE when it added the E.

“Christmas magic” said Santa as he smiled through his beard.
Then suddenly all of the reindeer appeared.
He jumped into his sleigh and he waved me good-bye,
Then he soared o’er the rooftops and into the sky.

I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight
“Get your vaccines my friends, Merry Christmas, good-night”.
Then I went back to bed and a sweet Christmas dream
Of a world when we’d finished with Covid 19.

 

About Paul

Just an old retired guy trying to finish out my last years on this planet. I lost my best friend and wife in early 2020. I was blessed again by reconnecting with Dr. Mary Côté, a long-time friend. Mary and I got married July 28th, 2021, and are enjoying life together and plan to spend the rest of our lives being a blessing to our friends and family.
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