Today you are to receive The Gift. That is exciting in and of itself. It is not every day that you receive gifts. Your birthday is a fun day that is resplendent with gifts…and cake. On your birthday you can have your cake and take some photos of it…and then eat it too. Often I plan throughout the year what I would like to receive for my birthday. After all, it only comes once a year. During my career, I often took my birthday off. It was a primary holiday for me. There is a fine dinner in the plan and perhaps a movie in St. Louis and whatever we old folks have the energy to do. Reflection over a Dirty Martini or two is part of the festivities. What happened during the past year and what would I like to accomplish during the next…God willing.

Christmas is my major celebration and it is Christmas in my head all year through! Since the days of Laughing Santa in Chicago Christmas has been firmly implanted in my soul and the entire concept enhances my life. I am already planning a gift for my Christmas. MJ has an Apple Watch as well as Aaron…and now dad must have one. MJ has a feature on her Apple Watch that if she would fall the watch would notify someone to come and help her. I like that idea as I spend my time in the woods on a daily basis and would appreciate having more than my wildlife family be advised if the old man was down. Santa Claus fascinates me. He came to my house in Eldorado when I was just a lad. I have a collection of Santas and have been working on it for some years. I love receiving gifts and I love giving them. The looks of surprise and enthusiasm and wonder are priceless! The mystery of opening a Christmas gift and having the possibilities of the world beneath the shiny festive yuletide paper and the bright ribbon is exciting and energizing and rewarding. I am sad when Christmas is over…for about a week…until I start thinking about it once again.

You woke up this morning…and so did I. We had a birthday party and Christmas rolled into one. Another day of life! Our gift has endless possibilities and rewards and avenues to travel and mystery to solve! Life is the gift that keeps on giving. I spoke to my friend at church yesterday and he said that he has good days and bad. Another asked me how I had been and I said fine other than I keep getting older. He replied that is what I wanted as to stop getting older was not the alternative that I was looking for. Wendy told me that I was such a positive person. A wonderful compliment! I mentioned that as a child I had experienced some bad things in my life and I decided that I was going to choose to focus on the bright and good and positive happenings of my days. I knew that my dear mom was counting on me for morale support and that life was too short to wallow in negativity and misery.

Remember…each day you will receive The Gift…it is up to you what you do with it…