Christmas, alone.._

Please follow me on Twitter @slblue. If you have a moment, I would love to hear from you, either add a comment in the section below or send me an email to: steveblue22@gmail.com Please be sure to forward the blog to your co-workers, family and friends.

I wrote this 10 years ago, but never published it in my blog. Hope it hit’s your heart……

The strangest thing happened this morning.  Let me say up front, I'm not a person that believes in talking to the "beyond" or superstitious in any way.  But what happened today, got my attention.  

I swear this happened and makes me smile every time I think about it.  But let me put it in perspective so you too can appreciate the significance.  

I lost my wife to two colon cancers a year and a half ago. She loved Christmas, she would actually “glow” as bright as the tree in Rockefeller Center for weeks as the special day approached!  

She was the type of person that always had boxes of Christmas wrapping paper, gift tags, gift bags, bows, etc, year round.  Why?  Because she never knew when she would find that special gift for the special person in her life. She was childlike during her favorite days of the year.  It was beautiful and transformational, as she contagiously put you into her happy, loving “Christmas Extravaganza” attitude.

That said, and it was only the 2nd season now alone, I was feeling melancholy, missing her and her aura, as would be expected on her Christmas Day.  

But it was Christmas morning and my procrastination caught up with me and I needed to wrap my son's gift as I was going to have brunch with he and his then girlfriend (now wife of 8 years) and I hadn’t wrapped anything.  

So I went to the guest room this morning, where the Christmas wrapping stuff was still hiding.  I found it, still taped up from the move here over a year ago.  I had moved from the house I “bought for Leslie” 15 years prior.  But it was too big, too far out of town, and too many special memories.  So I moved back to a house I’ve owned for 30+ years ago, which my son had been living, but had been empty for some time.  

I quickly cut the “moving tape”  from the long Christmas colored container and flipped open the long green cover. Inside were a plethora of various colored/sized bows, unopened rolls of wrapping paper, and 100’s of package tags spread throughout the container.  

In the bottom left corner of the box was a small Minnie Mouse overstuffed make-up bag with its price tag still attached.  I picked it up, and unzipped it open.  It was filled with crammed with various name cards, about 50 of them squeezed into the bag.  I blindly picked out one to use and about lost it.  Of all the cards in the bag and box, literally 100’s, I chose the most precious card imaginable.  When I flipped it over to write on it I froze.  I picked the only card that had already been written on.  What it said, made me a believer.  

When I turned it over, it read, "To Steve- With all my love for a Merry Christmas, Les". I freaked!

  

I don't like to read into things, but to find this 1 in 100’s of cards on Christmas Day, seems more than coincidental.  

It was not uncommon for Leslie to “forget” or add someone to her ever growing list.  My guess, is one of the gifts she had for me went to someone else in a crisis moment.  All it needed was a new card.  I turned out to get the best gift of all………the tag.

I just couldn't keep this to myself.  I'm not crazy, this really happened!  Have a Very Merry Christmas 🎁

IT’S OKAY TO HATE…….HATE SMART!

Okay, Hate…

Wait……What?!

Yep, you heard me. Sounds weird, right?  We have been told, since we were children, that hate is a bad word and feeling. 

But after watching our country slide into a nonstop “we vs they” smackdown, especially lately, it’s clear the hate isn’t going anywhere and continues to fester and spread like a California wildfire. So if we’re going to hate, maybe we should at least aim it in the right direction.  Let’s look at hate closer…maybe we can use it positively.

Hate homelessness, not the homeless.

Hate how we burn mountains of money on political campaigns, not how much money goes to our less fortunate.   

Hate hunger, not the hungry.

Hate the lack of quality education, not folks who never had the opportunity to get one.

Hate bigotry, and yes, that means anyone of any color who’s convinced everyone else is the problem.

Don’t hate acceptance. That’s literally the stuff our country was built on.

And if you absolutely must hate some actual human beings?  Fine.  Hate the ones who could fix homelessness, hunger, bigotry, and broken schools… but don’t do anything.  

Hate the politicians who talk a good game, but do nothing, and then ask you for donations.  Hate the politicians who don’t stand up to the president when he is hurting their constituents.  Hate them all the way to the voting booth.

If you’ve got hate to give, at least upcycle it. Make it constructive, not destructive. Hate with purpose. Hate with style. Hate, with a plan.  Don’t hate to hate. 

Please follow me on Twitter @slblue. If you have a moment, I would love to hear from you, either add a comment in the section below or send me an email to: steveblue22@gmail.com Please be sure to forward the blog to your co-workers, family and friends.

The Hat…….

The Hat……

My son lives in Alabama, so I only see him about once a month. Yesterday, we met up for lunch at a local sandwich shop. I was wearing my "Trump hat" in a very red state, but a purple county, and we sat at a back table, minding our own business.

This hat is a genuine conversation starter. People take pictures, ask where to buy one, and make comments about how they love it. Rarely do I get any pushback. The experiences I've had with it are funny, and yesterday was no exception.

The restaurant was about half full, with a mix of families, businesspeople, and laborers. As we were leaving, we passed a large group of women, a grandmother, her daughters, and a couple of teenage grandkids, sitting near the exit door. The daughter, who looked to be in her mid-40s, stood up and started speaking. 

"When we first saw your hat from across the room, we were so annoyed," she said. "We couldn't quite read it, but we thought we knew what it said, and it really upset us. But as you got closer, we saw it wasn't what we thought, and it made us smile!"

Then, they all jumped up, shouting, "We love your hat!"

I explained that I had the hat fixed so I could wear it, and we all laughed. The woman gave me a big bear hug and told me she was visiting family from Spain. She went on to say that Trump and the U.S. were widely disliked in Europe because of his tariffs and actions on the world stage.

My son just smiled and asked, "Does this happen often?"

I just laughed and said, "Almost every time it”

Finding Laughter in Tumultuous Times

We can't change what happened last November, at least not yet. But we can still find moments to laugh. It's a way to cope when his actions make life harder for everyone who isn't a billionaire. We can't let our sense of humor die, not with all the hate, antisemitism, and bullying going on. This, too, shall pass—hopefully with the midterms.

At 78, I've been fortunate enough to travel all over the country and the world. I've seen a lot. And if I've learned anything, it's that laughter can be the antidote to what feels like "Kryptonite." I've found it's stronger than chemotherapy, stronger than grief, and, fortunately, stronger than the Trumplicans.

Please don't waste your energy trying to make sense of what they spew. It's a pointless endeavor. Instead, they make for great material for comedians on late-night TV and shows like SNL. While they're trying to dismantle networks and organizations that don't reflect their extreme right-wing views and their distorted version of Christianity, we have to stand firm. 

Since when do Christian values include lies, bigotry, racism, antisemitism, and bullying, all the while taking away lifelines from the less fortunate just so the privileged can get a tax break? That's not what this country stands for.

While the rest of the world might think we're a fascist country, it hasn't happened yet. We have to pray that we regain our strength and stop them from further dividing us. Get involved, prove them wrong, and don't let them succeed.

So keep laughing, and remember: this too shall pass, like a diarrhea fart. We will clean up this mess. In my own small way, I'll continue to point out the hypocrisy of how the former Republican Party has morphed into the fascist Trumplican party.  Have I lost people whom I considered friends?  Yup.  But as a retired 78-year-old, I don't care. At my age, I can say whatever I want, just as they can, thanks to our current constitution.

Please follow me on Twitter @slblue. If you have a moment, I would love to hear from you, either add a comment in the section below or send me an email to: steveblue22@gmail.com Please be sure to forward the blog to your co-workers, family and friends.