Wishing You Peace, Joy and Good Health

Happy Holidays - Make It the best by remembering what it is really all about.
Bob Coates

by Skip Cohen

​​My good buddy, Bob Coates, shared his comment above in 2017 and again just this past week. It's perfect to share together with my thoughts on Christmas Eve 2023. 

Whether your beliefs have you celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or any other holiday this time of year, I want to wish you all the happiest and healthiest of holidays. I've always been a big fan of December's holiday spirit. It's a time when, no matter how bizarre the world is, there are moments of peace, gratefulness, and joy to cherish and savor. It's a time when Bob's quote is so relevant.

One of my most favorite holiday messages came from a friend. "Craig" wrote this eight years ago about his life with his wife, "Erin". The image he used reminded me of the first holiday card photo Sheila and I shared after moving to Florida, coincidentally captured by Bob Coates in 2011.
 
Craig described his relationship with Erin. As I read it, I felt like Christopher Robin would appear any minute. It's so well done, and deserves an encore performance.

Wishing all of you happy holidays one more time. Take the time for those eleven-second therapeutic hugs with those people special to you. Don't hold back from reminding them of their importance in your life. Cherish each minute and give yourself a big pat on the back - another year has passed, and along the way, you worked hard, grew your skill set, and have a lot to be proud of. It's time to relax and get ready for a whole new year with new challenges, but even better, new milestones to celebrate.

​Happy Holidays!

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Not at the beginning mind you, but fairly early along the path did the Blue Jay and the Mole cross. Quite by coincidence really, and certainly out of the ordinary as that’s not normally a pair you’d assume to be friends.
 
     Walking in the forest can be unpredictable. Sometimes you just cross paths, at just the right time, with someone you’re not looking for. And if you happen to say the proper things like “My, isn’t it a lovely day” or “I quite fancy your ugly hat” or “I do,” you both can get lost, obliviously, in that lovely fog of connectedness that ever so rarely reaches the forest floor. The next thing you both know you are QUITE far down the path. Farther than you’ve ever been. So you look both ways; backwards….been there….forward…..yes, doesn’t look totally scary. “I’ll go there with you.”

     And so you walk. Together, hand in hand. And time stands still, or so it seems. You make “traveling companions” on your walk, those who started at the same time or love the same parts of the forest that you do. You make a family, or, in this case, Mole Jays (Blue Moles just didn’t sound right). And although you wouldn’t think a Mole Jay could fly away, one day they do. But you keep 
walking because there is so much yet to do and see.​

All of which leads me to this part of the story.
 
After walking for days uncounted, the Jay and the Mole came upon an alpine lake in the early afternoon (of their lives) and decided “this is a good place to rest.” They unpacked their toasted tomato and PB/ham sandwiches (respectively) and sat waterside, enjoying the solitude. Perhaps it was the alpine air, perhaps the clearness of the mountain lake, or perhaps, as years before, they had crossed a path together at the same time; but in the quiet and reflection of the water they saw their lives, and how they had been blessed. Their relationship, their children, their friends, and yes, all right, even you! (you’re so needy!).
And it was all wonderful.  

​The End.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from the Mole and the Jay (Craig and Erin)!  ​​