13 years ago, less than a week after my father passed away, my grandfather suffered a massive stroke while he and my grandmother were in Las Vegas.  Thinking that this may be the last chance we would have to say good-bye, almost all of our family flew into Nevada to be at his bedside.  Timing wise, this couldn’t have happened at a worse time.  My dad just died, my brother was still in Washington state and my mom, step-dad and my sister were on a cruise in Alaska.  Somehow though, we all managed to drop everything and within 48 hours we were all there (along with my cousins, aunty and uncle).

Since then, he has made a remarkable recovery, but we still didn’t know how many more holidays we would have with my grandfather.  In the years following, he had two more strokes and is now in a nursing home.  Every year, we thank God that he has given us one more Christmas with him as we often think that this one might be his last.

This Christmas season I am truly grateful for all the people in my life that have enhanced it and have made it special.  For what are the holidays without friends and family?  Just as every year I am thankful that I can spend one more Christmas with my grandparents, I am also thankful that God has placed so many incredible people in our lives.

So let’s make a deal: we all grow old together and spend many more Christmases with each other.  Deal?  Deal!

Merry Christmas Ma and Papa!