The Night Before Christmas, thank you in six parts

The Night Before Christmas

In 1986 Leslie and I bought a nice edition of the Night Before Christmas for David (Baby David at the time). I read the book to him that Christmas Eve and every Christmas Eve since. Oh Lord, it was hard the first Christmas after Leslie passed away – don’t think, just focus on the words. Oh, life! What a life!

Photo: Reading the Night Before Christmas: Charles and David; me; Chinh (a friend joining us for Christmas); and behind us, Mary, my niece.

Thank you in six parts (all incomplete; all complete)

God

Thank you for this day
Thank you for life
Thank you for love
Thank you for the sky, the sun, sunset, sunrise
Thank you for seas
Thank you for mountains
Thank you for rain, winds, clouds
Thank you for flowers, vegetables, fruits
Thank you for young people old people babies hippies students neighbors
Thank you for soft voices

David

Thank you for being our son
Thank you for loving Mom, for loving me
Thank you for more than 33 years of joy
Thank you for taking care of business
Thank you for San Francisco
Thank you for your good counsel
Thank you for teaching me so much about computers
Thank you for good travels(!)
Thank you for Flagging and all that goes with it
Thank you for taking time week after week after week

Jean

Thank you for our beautiful life together
Thank you for our bed in the morning light
Thank you for sacred meals sacred moments sacred lying together
Thank you for misty gardens
Thank you for Berkeley
Thank you for your soft, warm skin
Thank you for beautiful hot loving sacred sex
Thank you for art
Thank you for these dreams and visions
Thank you for this romance

 

Leslie

Thank you for loving me
Thank you for our life together
Thank you for believing in me
Thank you for standing by me
Thank you for going steady with me (for 50 years!)
Thank you for teaching me how to be a good parent
Thank you for inspiring me
Thank you for our travels
Thank you for making love with me
Thank you for so many years of romance – romance that never died!

And

Thank you, John, for all you have done for me – what a beautiful brother you are!

Thank you, Jeff (photo below with Phana), for being my best friend since we fought in Vietnam
Thank you, Ron and David for years of food and fellowship
Thank you, Barbara, Nora, and Shirin for being faithful friends to Leslie and me
Thank you, Jim and Elisabeth for opening me and helping me through troubled times
Thank you, Kay and Ally Fiesta for always remembering me
Thank you, Charles for being a good son-in-law
Thank you Atrium Obscurum (and Chris) for the many journeys
Thank you, John, Peter, and Bill for welcoming me to California
Thank you Janet, Nancy, Sherry, Amy, Amie, Courtney, Susan, Linda, et al. for welcoming me into your tribe
Thank you, Kristina for loving me
Thank you Dan Foster, Stephen Gaskin, and G-5 (especially Jim and Chuck) for teaching me
Thank you, Facebook friends

Thank you, Phana (in photo with Jeff)
Thank you, USMC and my brothers-in-arms
Thank you neighbors

Jean

Thank you for the endless arching of this endless summer from Berkeley to Mendocino

to Dallas to Santa Cruz to San Francisco to Vancouver to the golden afternoon of Big Sur to Marcia’s house to Indian Rock to The Temple to Flagging to the Edge of the World, to Yosemite (walking with faeries in the forest) to the beach the seashore the waterfront to La Honda to Esalen(!) to Wilbur to massage class to New York to Spain to our beautiful life in Berkeley to Colorado into Wyoming into the place where Jean became so much and arching across the beautiful Snowy Range(!) into Hong Kong into India into New Mexico into Colorado and back to the Paradise of Berkeley. This is the train (taken from old post).