Hello and Happy Holidays to you and yours!  I hope that you are celebrating with friends and family.  

I remember as a kid being thrilled the first time I saw holiday lights go up in the neighborhood.  My parents were often the ones hosting our relatives in our house so I associate this time of year with having lots of family members around.  Now as a Dad I try to do the same thing though Evelyn and I aren’t the greatest hosts, and because our parents are on the older side now, we often go to them. 
 

I’m at an age now when many of my friends’ parents are having health problems.  It’s made me eager to spend as much time with my folks as we can.  I try to convey to Christopher and Damian everything that their grandparents went through as immigrants to this country, and how grateful they should be.  They definitely don’t get that right now because they’re kids – but I hope it sinks in down the road.

I also try to tell our boys – when they fight – that they should appreciate each other, because they will always have each other.  They will always be brothers.  And they should feel lucky that they have each other.  Of course they don’t really get that now either.  Maybe later they will. 

For a lot of folks in the world, it’s been a difficult year.  I spend a lot of my time trying to improve things, and I confess that sometimes it feels like the ground is muddy beneath my feet and I’m walking uphill. 

But I’m surrounded by incredible people who are trying to solve problems and make life better for those around them.  It’s invigorating getting to do work you care about every day.  

Thank you for making that possible for me. 

In many ways, that’s what I think the Holidays are about - appreciating the people in our lives and all that we have to be grateful for here and now.  And from that gratitude, good things will grow. 

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!  Let the people in your life know how much they mean to you. 🙂

- Andrew, Evelyn, Christopher and Damian