Dec. 23

I buy a dated ornament every year for the Christmas tree. It's fun to look at them and see how rich or poor we were that year. Whether I managed to get it early and get a cool one or late and get stuck with leftovers. I almost collected an entire decade of one design-but missed a year. Which makes it funny. This year I got a lovely dated seashell with a pearl. It has a sweet saying about the beauty left behind after a life well lived- and I know I'm sappy but I lost my dear big dog George this year. He was the first dog that was mine. I picked him from a no kill shelter and brought him home because my son had been begging for a dog for years. George changed our entire family. He taught me that I wasn't as afraid of dogs as I thought. He taught my kids not to be afraid of dogs at all. He gave us all companionship and lots of licks. He taught me about a life well lived from beginning to end. He also taught me to have a sense of humor about messes in the house and that a loaf of banana bread left sitting on the counter was an opportunity well taken. He changed everything about our family making us all less self involved, more generous, and loyal to each other, and for that I'm thankful. Cheers~