I originally posted this back in February of 2000. A close friend had recently died in a car accident over in Europe. Although I had only known her for a short time, she changed my way of looking at life and the people in it.
Here is that tribute. Reprised.
(This is for you T. Hope you’re still doing it your way - carefree and with a big ol’ smile.)

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I miss my friend, and I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately. I miss her humor. I miss her wisdom. I miss her compassion. I miss her ability to shrug off the cynicisms of life. She was a unique individual unlike any other I’ve ever known - a free spirit - and I feel that spirit lives on in her new journey.

Many lessons and revelations were learned from her…

She taught me to appreciate myself for the person I am, and not for the person somebody else would wish me to be. That the shallowness of one’s self is evidenced by the level of one’s vanity.

She taught me it’s our imperfections that keep us humble, and our spirituality that keeps us optimistic. That, were we all perfect, our friends and family wouldn’t be able to tolerate us - nor would we be able to tolerate ourselves.

To all you merchandising moguls, mass media vultures, and shock-value tv and radio villians - f*ck you.

You use the airwaves, magazines, billboards, internet and every other conceivable means at your avail to manipulate, brainwash, violate, and fuck with us.

You want to know why we have such a f*cked up society? Look at the shit that’s constantly regurgitated - around the clock. We can’t escape it. Everywhere we turn, it’s there - being thrown in our faces.

We have you to thank for the twisted morals and standards our kids have adopted, despite our best attempts to instill a solid foundation of goodness and right and wrong. By idolizing drunken, white-trash, reality-whoring, attention-seeking celebuwannabies, you’ve skewed and tainted our kids to be just as shallow, f*cked up and whacked out as those they are continually confronted with through your unscrupulous publicity strategies and tactics.

Get a life already. You’ve stolen and wasted far too much of our’s.

Today, coming in from lunch, we approached the building to find a yellow Crossfire convertible 1) parked in a non-parking spot, and 2) with the top down. That wouldn’t be so peculiar had it not have been in the northeast, in January, and only 20-some degrees. To top it off (no pun intended), the driver of the Crossfire - a 60-something male - emerged from the building wearing one of those “My brother Daryl” hats. You know the ones, pull-down-over-the-ears lined in sherpa.

A picture’s worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera on me (other than a crappy cellphone variety). So I made a composite pic instead (above). Can you picture yourself driving down the road with this fella? Hot, ain’t he. You go, daddy-o. Next time, bring the beach chairs and blankets, too. Heck, we’ll have a picnic.

People, gotta love them.

The sign boldly proclaimed - “Only 26 more shopping days before Christmas!”

Huh? are you kidding me!?

For most people, it’s Christmas all year long when it comes to shopping. The retailers know this. Any and every holiday is an opportunity to free separate consumers from their hard-earned savings for something they really don’t need - but have been persuaded they really should have.

Honestly, I’d rather have something handmade. Something that somebody took the time to personally make - a crocheted throw, a picture in a frame, a card.

In that regard, I’m exceptionally proud of my son, Nick. Granted, it is Christmas for him all year long and he does gets his fair share. But, his Christmas list is of simple wants, nothing extravagant. He’s kind, and giving, and would be happier seeing someone in need receive a gift instead of himself. It’s an admirable character trait that will carry well with him through his life.

Handmade gifts. For the past few years now, we’ve designed and personalized the Christmas cards we send out to family and close friends. It’s fun coming up with the design, and waxes nostalgic the sentiment contained within. I would like to think the recipient enjoys it almost as much as we do making them.

Here’s a sampling of recent cards (click on each for a full-size view). Each of these are from pictures I have taken.

The 2007 card is almost ready for mailing - should go out in the next few days, or so.

Back to gifts. In my family - my mother, (grown) brothers and sister - used to draw names and buy for that person. A couple of years ago, we decided to stop drawing names and start contributing to a favorite charity. My charity of choice is St. Jude’s. I will make several donations to St. Jude’s throughout the year - a lump contribution, and several smaller ones at the malls and grocery stores.

In addition, this year, I’m doing something special for my family. For the past 8 years, I’ve worked on our family tree, and have been able to successfully trace our ancestry up to 66 generations back (on one particular line). I would estimate there are in excess of 5000 names - each complete with it’s own respective set of data. For Christmas, I’m giving everyone a copy of the GenoPro software and the complete family tree data. It’s been a labor of love, and hope it’s enjoyed as much as I did putting it together.

Do you do anything special for gift-giving in your family? And, what’s your favorite handcrafted gift someone gave you?

Click here for a full listing of the 25 Days of Christmas Challenge.