Thursday, December 31, 2020

December 31st: Revised Blog

 Somehow I lost two enjoyable pictures of Matt so I added them and posted this again for those of you that already read the first version.


It was Christmas and we were determined to have a great one. One could come up with a lot of reasons to skip the whole thing this year. But that would have been very sad. We truly needed Christmas and the hope it brings for the future.

Wendy had a great suggestion. She said, "Make a list 50 things you accomplished this year that you are proud of." I asked, "What if I can't come up with 50 things?" She said, "Then you should try harder!" It was a great suggestion. Over several days I made a list. It was easier than I thought. The list went well over 50. Then I decided to add, "Why am I proud of this?" Next I decided to attempt to rank them by order of importance. I have spent a great deal of time and emotion this year missing Linda and have come to recognize part of that is anxiety about what do I do now? As I look toward setting goals for the future, I believe this will help. I recommend the exercise, especially as you think about goals for 2021.

Typically I'd have pictures of our family enjoying Christmas dinner, opening presents, etc. This year we all decided to donate to food banks and skip the presents. I was very impressed to learn that the San Diego Food Bank can provide 5 meals for every One dollar donated. So picture opportunities were limited and I used last year's Christmas photo.


Linda, Steve, Wendy, Matt, Rebecca, Trevi and London


We did get a few pictures at Matt and Wendy's Christmas dinner. Here is a selfie of Matt, Wendy and me. The dinner was great. We Facetimed the new Superwoman movie together with Rebecca in Studio City and truly enjoyed the evening.

Christmas Dinner
Matt and Wendy's tree. The fish behind the tree is from 
Bobcaygeon, Ontario. Wendy claimed it when we moved to the trawler.













The Christmas Turkey



Great cookies










I also have some pictures friends shared, so we could at least enjoy Christmas decorations virtually.



Craig and Karen's nautical theme tree (of course), Boating friends we met in Canada and became great friends. Nice that they live in San  Juan Capistrano on the way to Studio City.


Craig, Karen and Linda on Rahn de Vous in Canada.









Randy and Cindy, Canadian boating friends. Cricket is on the chair and the polar bear has quite a story. I'll include it in another blog.



I'm still trying to get used to Christmas decorations without snow. It just doesn't seem right! 

Here's how it looks at the Drouhard farm at Christmas.


Drouhard family farm



However, walking around Encinitas in a sweatshirt, and enjoying the Christmas lights works for me. I included a few pictures just so you know that Californians decorate despite the lack of snow!


Matt waiting in line with the penguins

These fun pictures were from Matt. He waited patiently with the penguins for a taco.


And then there was the Yeti!
Matt and the Yeti



















I really liked this decorated Airstream trailer. Linda's parents had Airstreams for many years and we had fun travelling with them.


Note Santa on the roof in an airplane!



Matt and Wendy's House




I felt like I needed a fun Christmas picture from the past. Of course I spent a lot of time going through old pictures. It truly is addictive. I found the perfect picture. As a child, our family would go to New York city to visit my Mom's family every Christmas. In particular we enjoyed staying with Aunt Alice and Uncle Frank's family. We would always make a trip to Jahn's Ice cream parlor. I will always remember the nickelodian that still worked. In addition to being a player piano, it had drums, horns cymbals, etc. They also had an unimaginable number of Sundae options. But the crown jewel was the Kitchen Sink. It was huge, with many flavors of ice cream, syrups, nuts whipped cream, etc.  It was so large that Jahn's said if one person could finish it, he/she could take one home for free! My 6 year older brother John and his friend were determined to finish one themselves. Never happened but a fun memory.

 So of course, I wanted to share the Jahn's experience with Linda, Wendy and Rebecca. Here we were at Jahn's, so we just had to order one. But even though the picture shows only five people, there were many more of us. By the time we got to the bottom, all the syrups chocolate and ice cream melted and mixed together. We were smart enough to leave some in the bowl. Here's a little history.


From left: Rebecca, Wendy, Aunt Alice, 
cousin Marialice, Grandma Franko



Yesterday's Dream


I had to include a Christmas picture of Yesterday's Dream. Linda and I spent many wonderful Christmas seasons on Yesterday's Dream. People warned me that the holidays would be tough without Linda. I continue to miss her. They were correct, as I suspected. But the memories, family and friends helped make it a Merry Christmas.


Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year! It surely will be better than 2020!







No comments:

Post a Comment