Christmas 2019

December 27, 2019

Dear Noah and Dylan,

     Today is the 27th, I think, anniversary of the Grandma K and my Costa Rican bus accident. Lots of pictures in a couple of different photo albums of her all banged up. She turned black and blue so easily anyway. She was such a good sport about the whole thing. I still have the journal she and I wrote together while recovering in a hotel in San Jose, written on a banana leaf notebook. (one of my most cherished possessions)
     We were at your house last night for a post Christmas lobster dinner (two invites in less than a month!) with George and the dogs. We watched Moonrise Kingdom while your dad and George played Backgammon. Noah managed to get interested in it after Dad took away his new arcade game he got for Christmas since he was sitting there engrossed instead of paying attention to his favorite Auntie Kim and Uncle Joe. (sniff, sniff!)
    I gave you guys your gift but you didn't seem too thrilled. We are taking you away to Jefferson, NH to stay at Josselyn's Cabins the last weekend of January and go dog sledding at Muddy Paws Kennels. Noah perked up when I showed him the list of clothing he would need, so at least he was more interested than he let on. And Dylan seemed interested in the log cabin style of the accommodations. We are booked for the "Cabin in the Woods" which i picked so we could be far away from the other cabins in case the dogs barked much. But as it turns out, we can't take the dogs since we can't all fit in the Tesla. I booked our dog walker to watch them for the weekend. That will give us more freedom to come and go, and I won't feel guilty about leaving them alone in the cabin.
   After dinner, we played Knock-out Whist. Uncle Joe got all cranky when he had crappy cards and got knocked out on the first round and then George won the game, beginners' luck we called it. Then we played Forty-Fives, Dylan and I against George and Dad. Noah had no interest in playing cards whatsoever with us. Your dad says that he has someone lost interest in cards. Hope that's just a temporary twelve year old boy thing, shunning the parent? I'll get to the bottom of it when we are away together, MWA HA HA! Dylan and i were losing badly first game but made a comeback, then kicked ass the second game. It was too late to play a rubber game and we left around 8pm. It was a really nice time except for you two conspiring to steal our drinks constantly.
   We got to see Dylan on Christmas Eve when I hosted a brunch. I had invited your mom, Emily, Nick, too but Emily got sick and Noah wasn't in good shape either. You had to leave early so you missed seeing Holly and Ryan who came their usual fashionable 3.5 hours late. Ervin looked like he wanted to leave after eating. He was bored out of his mind, kept looking at his watch. I felt bad for him, first Christmas without Joie. He seemed to enjoy seeing the dogs and hearing your dad's latest dating tales of whoa.
   I'm off to the oncologist today, Dr. Cesar Castro to get the lowdown on my latest CT scan after the last six chemo treatments to determine next course of action. I get very teary-eyed thinking about it all and worrying. The worry never ends, as much as I try to not let it get to me. I just don't want to get to a point where i am suffering. It has been bad enough with cramping in my intestines for a good ten days after each infusion. Not fun. But at least I'm still enjoying quality of life and getting to see you two become kind, loving, funny, smart and handsome young men! And I thank my stars every day for Uncle Joe and the dogs that are my constant companions, like angels. And for your dad and Uncle Don. I love you all so much!
   Love always, Auntie Kim