Merry Christmas!

There is the ideal of Christmas versus the reality of Christmas. There is the hyperbole and the hype and then there is the reality. For me, Christmas is often about remembering all the people that I grew up with (my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) who aren't there anymore that I enjoyed and shared Christmas with growing up. If you have little ones (children under about 10 or12) often this is a really amazing experience for them. Then when they get into their middle 60s they will have an experience like mine. But, for now, there are all the hopes and dreams and wonders of Christmas when you are very young and still full of hope about your life. It isn't that hope goes away when you are in your 60s and beyond, it is that your hope is of a different sort than children have. It is a hope for a future for your children and grandchildren at least as good or better than your life experiences.

It is a hope for an afterlife as good or better than the life you lived here on earth.

So, here's to hope for us all! Here's to a better life for us all young and old!