A brief and inadequate seasonal note

On the off chance that you are reading this on a day with Importance, consider the tale of the guy who does contractor work around my house (despite the name of the blog, I'm pretty useless with tools).

A month ago, his father starts having health issues. It's, um, brain cancer. And not the cheery kind. A week ago, his (very) elderly mother in law slipped and fell, cracking her hip in the snow. His family is having quite a month, really.

His father is in good spirits, because from what I can gather, he's a pretty great Dad, and when you are one of those, you know that life is much more than about you.

That, or he's on powerful drugs. One or the other.

Today, I'm going to go to the mall for the last things that we don't need, spending money we don't have, and then go to the supermarket for more stuff we don't really need. Tomorrow, my family will tear open presents for far too long, because it is the nature of my people to express their love in Stuff. We'll also see other relatives and repeat the process.

And really, that's all fine and good, and so is caring about other stuff that isn't very important (hint: you usually read about it on this very blog)... but it's a little more mission critical to have the people you care about around in the first place.

Because, well, as valuable and important as a holiday and family are, the greater value is living this one, right now, fully -- because there's no guarantee that there will be others. Existence is a soap bubble, made bearable and wonderful by the shared illusion that it will (mostly) be here tomorrow, and the year after that.

But it doesn't have to be.

So go hug your kids, or spouse, or mom, dad or sibling, and let them know in as non-creepy a way as possible that you appreciate them sharing their time with you. It's what they do for you, and, well, they don't have to.

They have options. Everyone does.

And as a final point before I get back to the usual business of the blog (and yes, similar work schedule and product is planned), thanks for sharing your time reading this. Because you have options, and yet, you choose to.