I'll admit, it's hard this year. It's been difficult some other years, but 2024 has been a very cruel. We lost our friend Linda Butler in January. Our little budgie never did relax in our home, then became ill with some type of infection of his air sacs after boarding at our vet in March. By the time we found another avian vet, it was too late and we had to have him euthanized on August 1. In the meantime, James' kidneys failed at the end of June, after six years of us fending off dialysis. He also fell several times this year, leaving him with terrible back pain and leaving him no recourse except to use a walker in the house. We are still investigating options to relieve this pain, but he won't have a procedure until January.
And even in its closing days, 2024 couldn't leave well enough alone: our brother-in-law Bobby Thrift lost a battle with a quickly moving cancer a few days ago.
I was outside stringing up Christmas lights on the bushes out front, and it struck me that I was doing the same thing Bobby might have been doing this first weekend after Thanksgiving if Old Man Cancer hadn't stripped him down to the bone, stringing lights around their home to delight the eyes of his beloved grandchildren.
In the darkness, like St. Lucia whose feast we celebrate in twelve days, we must strive to be the light.
Keep us well. Keep us strong. Amen.
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