Christmas Eve

There are those saying there is a war against Christmas, and in some manner there probably is, but on this Christmas Eve it seems that the spirit of Christmas is alive and well.

I stopped by the Rite Aid at about 1115 this morning and there was a lot of "Merry Christmas" and "Thank You" and "After You" going on. It was a pleasure to be out and amongst the folks and see the sharing of the spirit of the time.

When I got to work I found that one of our former employees, Bob D., a software engineer who has moved on to new challenges, had indeed come back for our weekly Texas Hold'em game at lunch time. And, he was in a giving mood--giving up more chips that he took in. But, the point is that it was a real pleasure to see him and find out how he is directly, and not just through his wife, who is also a software engineer (and poker player) and still works for our company.

And, I understand, the Immaculate Conception Church was full for the 1600 (4:00 PM) Christmas Vigil Mass--the Mass geared to the children. That would be almost 2000 folks participating. I had the honor to be the reader at the 1800 (6:00 PM) Mass and I guesstimate that there were 400 to 500 there for that Service. So, a lot of people who might not otherwise make it to Mass every Sunday still honor this feast of the Nativity.

I would say that Christmas is alive and well and likely to survive at least another 12 months.

Merry Christmas to all.

Regards -- Cliff