Hey Noreen

So one of my siblings just let me know the drama from the Christmas dinner that I didn’t attend. Even though no alcohol was served, evidently some of the family got a little wrung up and arguments ensued. Thankfully it was after the meal and people were about to leave anyway. I can’t believe that this person though anything could be gained from stirring up things with the family.

Had to send a message to the perp. Not to keep things stirred up but to hopefully chill things for the next gathering – whenever that will be. At the risk of her giving me a bunch of grief back. Oh well, let’s see if free advice is worth anything.

“The older I get – and its pretty old now, g/f – the more I appreciate peace and harmony. Even though people have strong emotions, it is usually not worth having a discussion escalate in a family gathering. The family (any family) has a natural pecking order and people who disregard that are at a disadvantage.

So let me say that, when I married Steve Sr and had to find my way in his large dysfunctional family it was always challenging for me, especially during holidays. When all else fails, I would tell myself, “You can’t reason with crazy and you can’t argue with stupid.” Not that I’m calling anyone crazy or stupid – just sayin’ that sometimes nothing you say will have a good outcome no matter how right you think you are or how wrong you think someone else might be.

There’s another saying I love, too. “Don’t let the turkeys get you down.”

My stepdaughter has no ornaments for her tree but she gets a lot of food stamps. I told her to make some handmade ornaments. Like gingerbread men and little playdough figures that you can make from flour, salt and water. These are adorable and not that hard to make. If you use food items, they aren’t costing you anything but time.

AIDS has effected all of us for over 30 years. We take the opportunity on December 1 every year to continue to raise awareness of AIDS and the continued prevalence of HIV worldwide. In the past 30 years, over 30 million have died from AIDS. I hope we can find a cure in my lifetime and stop the spread of the infection so that the next generation does not have to bear this burden of burying our loved ones who suffer and die from AIDS.