In seventeen days Christmas will be here. What a year it has been since last Christmas. The year began with a heavy heart since just two months before, October 21st, I lost my dear mother, Edith, to the ravages of lung cancer. She lived in a three-roomed "mother's suite" attached to my home so I could easily take care of her when her illness overtook her physcially. I had hospice care for her so she was very comfortable during the worst part of her illness. When she passed away she took part of my heart with her. It was a sad time. Christmas that year was somber to say the least, but we all did the best we could to keep the celebration of Christmas alive. My daughter and son-in-law were more than hospitable; they were marvelous. So were my son and his wife.

My younger sister, Barbara, was also very ill with Lou Gerhrig disease and was quickly fading away. I tried to visit her as often as I could. She was always so grateful when I visited and never failed to thank me for coming. The look in her sunken eyes always broke my heart. It was as if she was trying to absorb my face in her minds eye. Her terrible disease stole all the vitality from her body but it could not touch her sharp mind. When I hugged her and told her that I loved her, her emaciated body was so fragile that I could feel her slipping away even as I held her in my arms. Oh, the pain of remembering those last two days she was alive. I miss her so much. The tears still flow and probably will for a long time.

The difference in my family is that we three girls were very close in age and in love. Losing mother was devastating to me, but losing my younger sister was like losing a spoke in a wheel of life. Mother was our hub, the center of our lives. Barbara was the first spoke now missing. How much longer can our "wheel" hold out before the other spokes break? It is only a matter of time.

On to other things. My daughter makes everything better for us all the time. She has been there for me through both my losses, giving me strength when I am feeling low. She made a wonderful dinner at Easter, inviting all our immediate family. I got a chance to visit with my son and his wife again.

It was painful to learn that our daughter-in-law, Betty, is getting dementia. We could tell she was already courting it because she often asked Chuck about names and places they had visited. She even forgot momentarily, the name of one of her sons. Chuck gently reminded her and she went on with her story. My heart seemed to tighten with the realization that each of us are at that time in our lives when "old age" maladies visit us and stay until our demise. That new revelation put a damper on the Easter celebration of Christ's victory over death. But, it was a victory which we will all have a share in some day. Thanks be to God!

Summer this year was unbearably HOT! My dear husband and I spent a lot of time in the house, going out only when it was necessary. We didn't even get our canopy up over the patio table and chairs this year. The mornings began hot and the day got hotter as time passed. We didn't use the deck much for sitting in the evening air and relaxing. Too many bugs. Ugh! So, our air conditioner ran night and day over the summer. I found many things to keep me busy in our little mansion on the mountain (road).

We did manage to go camping FIVE TIMES this summer. I was glad our camper has air conditioning too. I couldn't have stood it if we didn't have it. We really enjoyed our night time campfires. Even our dog, Krickette, enjoyed sitting with us around the fire. Oh, the skies up on that mountain were just beautiful, dotted with a million twinkling stars like diamonds in the sky. It was so much fun to camp since we hadn't done it for five years! That was our enjoyment for the summer.

It was too hot for a good garden this year. Only the crab grass and weeds prospered. What few vegetables we got we ate. Not much to share with family this year. Nothing tastes as good as a homegrown tomato and some really fresh cucumbers. I did get a nice amount of blueberries before the birds got to them. Just two quarts for the freezer, but it was better than nothing at all. When we lived at our first house, I had planted six blueberry bushes and I often think of the forty quarts of those luscious berries that I put in the freezer that are almost gone now. Of course, the bushes were thirty five years old when we moved. Too bad, I couldn't bring them with us but they were very, very large. Someday these two bushes I have may grow into large bushes too and produce with the others. This soil is not nearly as rich as the other place was, but I'm working on it.

Summer passed to sudden fall and the trees were beautiful this year, all yellows, oranges, reds and browns. The leaves were deep as they covered the ground and were harder to pick up with the mowers. I couldn't help Charlie get them up this year like I have always done. Reason? I had my left hand operated on in late September and it has been very slow in healing. I've had therapy on it three times a week since the first of October. Therapy has been no fun but I am now seeing progress in the movement of my thumb and fingers. My wrist still feels like it has a tight band around it but I'm told that it will go away gradually as I keep using my hand and fingers.

To top off this years "living," I'll just run down the activities quickly. I had two spots of skin cancer on my upper right arm and the inside calf of my left leg. They were removed and are fine now. I have to have a full body check for melonomas every six months now. I've also had to have two crowns on my back molars. I've heard it said that diabetes destroys your teeth, your heart, your kidneys and liver. Well, two of my teeth have started down the alley of no return. I just hope that's all. I do take the best of care of my teeth. Ask my dentist.

My hubby had to have vein surgery on his left leg a few months ago. His leg has healed very well. He still has back pain and right hip pain. Arthritis is a very painful "old age" disease. It will hit everyone sooner or later. Too bad it couldn't be later. Charlie has always been very active and so have I, but we can't outrun old age. We're giving it a good try though.

Bad news still this year. I found out that I have carodid artery disease with stenosis---narrowing of the arteries. In both sides of my neck the arteries are 90% narrowed. I've just had three in depth tests and when I go back this Thurday, I will learn the "bad" news and what is going to be done about them. I pray that God is with me, as He has always been. "If God is for me, who could be against me?" It's all in God's hands.

Well, I guess that is all I will write for this time. Christmas is on our doorstep and we want to wish everyone the best, healthiest, most merriest Christmas ever. God bless you all.
Evelyn