Christmas 2018 - With My New Friends
Wealthy Affiliate Friends
I would like everyone to know I value your friendship. Christmas is a time of year when friendship is on our minds more than any other time of year. It is comforting to know I am making many new friends here at Wealthy Affiliate, you people are awesome!
On A Personal Note
A few weeks ago my wife received a call from her only brother who lives in Canada. Frank lives near their Mother and visits here a couple time as week to help her with day to day needs, shopping, Doctors visits etc.
Frank called to deliver the sad news that my mother-in-law was just diagnosed with liver cancer. More scans are scheduled for the new year but at 88 yrs there is not much they can do. The scans are just to confirm what the Doctors already know, she has little time left.
With this unfortunate news, we decided that flying with dogs (Winnie & Keeper) in the holiday season is not an easy task and not a great experience for our four legged pals. Neither would we subject them to a strange Kennel no matter how good that Kennel's reputation is. 
The best alternative for us, I stay here to keep our dogs out of jail and we will celebrate Christmas when she returns from Canada next week.
Alone But Not Alone
It makes me sad to know there are thousands of people in the world that will be spending Christmas alone. This is a time of year when getting together with friends and family creates some of the fondest memories we cling to for years.
I am sad that my wife will spend Christmas 3,000 km away. But happy she is getting to spend it with her Mother who lives alone at 88 years old. This very well maybe her last chance to spend a Christmas with her mother and I didn't want her to regret not being there. I insisted she 
makes the journey. This was the best gift I could give her and her mother.
Don't feel sad for me. I am surrounded by good people, you on here, and good RV folk that traveled from all parts of North America. Many new friends living in this RV Resort are celebrating Christmas together with a Pot Luck dinner on Christmas Day.
The Holidays
Being separated from your closest loved ones and friendsis a very lonely time for those that have to experience the holidays alone.
If you're sitting on the fence, and have the chance and the ability to be with someone special, please don't hesitate any longer. Make the effort and eliminate any chance of regrets. No doubt you will brighten someones Christmas.
There is a proverb I believe came from the Dalai Lama, The Past is gone, The future is uncertain, but every day is a gift, and that is way we refer to it as the present.
Merry Christmas to all!
However you celebrate in your faith, I wish this holiday to be your best yet!
Recent Comments
6
Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. As someone who just lost his mother last month in a sudden accident, let me be the first to say that Family and Friends are the most important part of getting through difficult and trying times.
One thing I've been telling everyone that I know lately is to make sure the last thing you say to people you care about when you depart them is that you love them. No matter how certain tomorrow seems, it really isn't after all.
I hope you all find comfort in the holidays.
Hi Murray
So sorry to hear about your wife's Mum. Yes, life is so precious and can be so fleeting - you are quite right in saying that your gift to your wife is to give her the freedom to spend this Christmas with her Mum. Makes this quote come to mind: “No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you. After all, you're the only one who knows the sound of my heart from the inside.” ― Kristen Proby.
Well done for a great post, I really enjoy the way you have written it and the images you have added.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas, though it will be different, may it also be special and filled with wonder.
Blessings
Louise
Sorry to hear this news about your mother-in-law . You done a great thing letting your wife spend Christmas with her mother .
I'm so sorry to hear this.
Thank You for sharing this, and my thoughts are with your wife, her mother... and I'll include you as well! (LOL).
You're right it was the best gift!
Shaunna
I’m sorry to hear the sad news about your mother in law and glad your wife is able to be with her. Your blog really hit home to me.
We will be travelling today to be with my mother who we haven’t spent Xmas with for probably 8-10 years.
Why so long? It just seemed like life got in the way, it was too hard, there was always a valid reason not to make the trip. This year because my step-dad passed a few months ago we didn’t want her to have Christmas alone and so we are making the effort.
And you know what? It’s not that much of an effort, it hasn’t put us out that much AND I am looking forward to Xmas Day for the first time in a long time.
Cherish your loved ones, put yourself out every now and then, embrace this season of good will and cheer and brighten someone’s day.
Thanks for a great post and I wish you a wonderful Xmas with your RV folks and of course our WA family.
Perhaps your wife needed this time alone with her mother Murray, but in the future you might consider a sitter. There's probably some kid in the neighborhood who love's dogs as much as you do. My grand daughter was just such a person and sat with many a neighbor's dog.
Your mother-in law had a long life statistically, but with the direction functional medicine is taking us, eventually members of our species will be able to live healthy lives for as long as 135 years, I have read. I hope many people get a chance to watch the Interconnected series you shared with me Murray. It was awesome. I'm going to watch it again and take notes this time.
You are truly a present. I love that quote as well. I hope you and your wife connect with Marley2016, another amazing dog lover.