Ring dem bells

Dec 20, 2004

My buddy John Ettorre, in this post, tees up his holiday thanksgiving with this timely graph:

Yes, I know some people do this kind of thing in the form of those long, maudlin brag letters they send around with Christmas cards each year. You know the kind I mean: the ones that go on about what Bobby accomplished and what a genius dear Susie is (as for the family photos, why don’t they ever include the parents?? Why kids-only in all of these holiday photos? My currently operative theory: middle-aged parental vanity).

Some of you may be getting just such a letter from me and Erin, though we do include pics of us and the girls (ours are four individual photos side-by-side; experience tells me the no-parents pictures result because of the difficulty in getting a good shot of all together, unless you pay a high-priced professional photographer instead of visiting the studio at Target or Sears).

I beg to differ with John: the wrap-up letter, at least to me, is a way to look back at all the blessings in my family’s year, the birth of a daughter, a successful HIV awareness campaign, a master’s degree, a new home and a new minivan, Erin’s acceptance to law school, good health, trips to Kiawah Island with cousins and to the Dominican Republic with my hero (my dad) and so much more. Bragging? A little. Awe at the opportunities? That, too. Gratitude to our family and friends and benefactors and country? Absolutely.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to John’s coming posts about the people who inspire him – hope my cajoling above reminds him how important he’s been to me for 15 years. John and I are hatching a writers salon for an afternoon while I’m in Cleveland. Can’t wait to see him then and there.

Anton Zuiker ☄