I attacked this head-on by making something this year. Since I have been home since early in December burning vacation that cannot be carried over. I have to admit, it was gratifying.
Also, my wife and I make Holiday Bags (filled with grooming necessities) for all the men and women that are at Transition House during the holidays. Hopefully, the contents of the bags will help to spruce up some homeless.
This year, we also volunteered to man pledge phones for Unity Shoppe Charities Telethon. We were there for over two hours, but not at the "prime time". I only received one credit card pledge, but it was for $5000. It made me feel good to take their money and put it into use feeding the less fortunate.
Grandma changed
In the dim and distant past
When life's tempo wasn't so fast,
Grandma used to rock and knit,
Crochet, tat and baby sit.
When the kids were in a jam,
They could always call on Gram.
But today she's in the gym
Exercising to keep slim.
She's checking the web or surfing the net,
Sending some e-mail or placing a bet.
Nothing seems to stop or block her,
Now that Grandma's off her rocker.
There I was sitting at the bar staring at my drink when a large, trouble-making biker steps up next to me, grabs my drink and gulps it down in one swig.
"Well, whatcha' gonna do about it?" he says, menacingly, as I burst into tears.
"Come on, man," the biker says, "I didn't think you'd CRY. I can't stand to see a man crying."
"This is the worst day of my life," I say. "I'm a complete failure. I was late to a meeting and my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my car had been stolen and I don't have any insurance. I left my wallet in the cab I took home. I found my wife with another man . . . and then my dog bit me."
"So . . . I came to this bar to work up the courage to put an end to it all, I buy a drink, I drop a capsule in and sit here watching the poison dissolve; and then you show up and drink the whole damn thing!.... But, hell, enough about me, how are you doing?"
