Let me take a few moments to wish you all a merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Solstice (belated), or any other festivity you may be celebrating at this time of year.
I wanted to send all of my special friends a PM, but realized it would take me all day; there are so many of you! I've seen the forum grow from just a few hundred members, with about 30 "regular" posters to one with hundreds of daily posters.
The forum has grown (for me) from a group of anonymous people with strange avatars to a large group of people who I've actually met in person, some briefly, others for days at a time.
I must admit, it's been fun. :sohappy:
Christmas has always been a milestone holiday for me, and probably for most of you. I've seen a lot more of them than most of you have, so it takes me longer to reflect back.
The one constant that makes one more memorable than the other has nothing to do with "stuff." It's not the "perfect" gifts, or House Beautiful decorations, or even elaborate meals and treats.
It was, and always will be, the people.
When I was a child, the day was spent with my parents and four brothers, with other relatives added from time to time. Over the years, I added friends , a husband, and finally, my own children. So did my sibs (added wives and children) One year, my brother spent the holiday in Nam; my mother had a hard time that year...almost as hard as last year, her first Christmas in over 60 years without my father.
Over the years, many of my loved ones have died, or we've drifted apart. But at this time of year, they are close in my memory and heart.
But it has always been the people who make up my memories. Material things are transient; so are our lives; but the spirit of love we share with each other goes on forever. IMO, that is the true meaning of Christmas, and the message that He whose birth I celebrate brought to us.
I wanted to send all of my special friends a PM, but realized it would take me all day; there are so many of you! I've seen the forum grow from just a few hundred members, with about 30 "regular" posters to one with hundreds of daily posters.
The forum has grown (for me) from a group of anonymous people with strange avatars to a large group of people who I've actually met in person, some briefly, others for days at a time.
I must admit, it's been fun. :sohappy:
Christmas has always been a milestone holiday for me, and probably for most of you. I've seen a lot more of them than most of you have, so it takes me longer to reflect back.
The one constant that makes one more memorable than the other has nothing to do with "stuff." It's not the "perfect" gifts, or House Beautiful decorations, or even elaborate meals and treats.
It was, and always will be, the people.
When I was a child, the day was spent with my parents and four brothers, with other relatives added from time to time. Over the years, I added friends , a husband, and finally, my own children. So did my sibs (added wives and children) One year, my brother spent the holiday in Nam; my mother had a hard time that year...almost as hard as last year, her first Christmas in over 60 years without my father.
Over the years, many of my loved ones have died, or we've drifted apart. But at this time of year, they are close in my memory and heart.
But it has always been the people who make up my memories. Material things are transient; so are our lives; but the spirit of love we share with each other goes on forever. IMO, that is the true meaning of Christmas, and the message that He whose birth I celebrate brought to us.
:wave: 
