My Christmas Wish List

Art Buchwald once said, “The best things in life aren’t things.” I wholeheartedly agree with him. So if you want to stop by with a gift this Christmas, here’s a list of what I’ve already received and what I’d like:

This year I’ve been blessed with the gift of some very special friends—my  breast cancer “sisters.” They are gifts that brighten my life every day, especially Barbara, Bridget, Jennifer, Lynn Ann, Rebecca, Sue and Tami. I would like a cure for breast cancer for all of us. 

Then there’s my sister, Marilee. She was a wedding gift I received when I married my husband Joe. Despite the trials she goes through battling MS, she volunteers to come with me to all my medical appointments and checks in on me like a mother hen. Her fun and loving spirit light up my life. I wish I knew somewhere to find a cure for MS for her this holiday season. 

For my husband who has alternately been a cook, maid, baker, and chauffeur during the past several years, and who has been a loving companion for 29-1/2 years, I wish I could give him a healthy wife. 

I want a cure for my goddaughter Linda’s Crohn’s disease so she can enjoy planning the wedding celebration she deserves. 

Then there’s the rest of my family—my “brother” John in Vermont who can make me laugh in any situation and who gives me a very valuable link to share family stories.  I want a special guardian angel to protect his son in the US. Army.  And I need some things for some other cousins, too, especially the ones who constantly keep in touch sending love and laughter each day of the week even as they deal with some very serious health and family problems of their own. I want  Anne-Marie’s husband to get well soon, I want a special potion to take away Janie’s troubles, a cure for Jackie’s rare disease, and an end to Harold’s health problems. For myself, I want some of JoJo’s banana pudding, a crazy outing with Melanie, and some hugs from my cousins Yadja, Martha, Bernie and Junie. 

I would like to be able to give my BFF Rose back the family she’s lost the past couple years to repay her for all the love and laughter she gives me. I want to sit on Wanda’s porch and share stories, to meet Donna’s furry friends who write to Stretch, to reminisce with Paul in person (but only if his wolf Trivia has had her lunch already!).  I want Laurie to feel better so we can have that meeting in Hadley; I want to share some of that promised homemade fruitcake with Mary; I want to soak up some Florida sunshine with Grace. I want more visits from my furry neighbor Oliver (with his parents along of course). 

I want to live in a world where innocent children don’t get shot, where terrorists and extremists are extinct, and where lawmakers govern with compassion and a spirit of fellowship. And I don’t want another woman to die of breast cancer. 

So, if you can find any of these things on sale at Macy’s or Sears—it’s okay if you even want to wait and pick them up half price the day after Christmas—stop by any time and drop them off to me. 

Stretch wants to thank all his friends for the gifts, cards and e-mails he received this holiday season.  He’s toasting all of you with the classic words of Charles Dickens—“God Bless Us, Every One.”