From my family here to the ConcreteBoard family everywhere---

[PhillyPhreak54]

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year to all.

[SD_Eagle5]

Merry Christmas

[BigEd76]

Anyone else seriously lacking in the whole holiday spirit thing this year?

No sign of snow (or even a drop under 45 degrees) and my grandfather dropping dead in a parking lot from a heart attack five minutes after Cole's INT/TD has ruined things a bit, but I'm done all the shopping/wrapping stuff, I'm off from work until January 2, and I have a Christmas party tomorrow night, so I'll be in the spirit of things or whatever.....

[PhillyPhreak54]

Sorry to hear about your Grandpop, Ed.

[BigEd76]

thx.  Italian Catholic family = huge support group, so everyone will be OK after yesterday 

[Geowhizzer]

Anyone else seriously lacking in the whole holiday spirit thing this year?

No sign of snow (or even a drop under 45 degrees) and my grandfather dropping dead in a parking lot from a heart attack five minutes after Cole's INT/TD has ruined things a bit, but I'm done all the shopping/wrapping stuff, I'm off from work until January 2, and I have a Christmas party tomorrow night, so I'll be in the spirit of things or whatever.....

Dang, there seems to be a lot of this going on.  I'm terribly sorry to hear about your loss.

Prayers and condolences to your family as well.

[DH]

Damn Ed, sorry to hear man.

My grandpa died out of nowhere back in June too...I know how rough it is.

[Seabiscuit36]

Sorry to hear about the Gpop Ed,  As italian catholics do you do a wake?  My irish-welsh family always throws a party after the services. 

[Feva]

Sorry Ed... can't imagine how tough it is to lose somebody this time of year.  

[BigEd76]

As italian catholics do you do a wake?  My irish-welsh family always throws a party after the services. 

Yup.  Had one on Wednesday night and somewhere between 400 and 500 people came to pay their respects (almost 3 and a half hours), then they had another quick one yesterday morning for people that couldn't make it at night.  After that was the procession to the church where he was involved for almost 60 years, where they had mass for an hour, then another trip to Resurrection Cemetery where he was laid to rest, then yet another trip to the restaurant where the family gathered for lunch.  They had the 7 grandsons as the pallbearers, so my brother and I had to help carry the casket.  Rough times but everyone made it through...

Sorry to depress the hell out of this Christmas thread.     Happy holidays everyone... 

[Seabiscuit36]

Thats amazing Ed,  there's no better way to celebrate life than getting hella drunk with everyone they knew 

[Father Demon]

Merry Christmas to everyone. 

Ed -- sorry about your loss.  Nothing is worse than losing a loved one during the holidays -- my wife's mom is dying quickly, and will likely be gone by the end of January.  So we get to spend New Year's up at her folks' house to say our goodbyes.

Other than that, I love Christmas because I get to watch the faces and smiles and hear the laughter of my kids.  This will be my daughter's first real Christmas (they don't celebrate much in an orphanage), so I am really looking forward to that.  2-year olds have a natural way to make you feel good about pretty much everything.  Her laughter is contagious.

Everyone be safe, and have a blast.  And may Santa bring us all a victory in Dallas.

[Seabiscuit36]

And T.O. a broken leg 

[Don Ho]

Ed,

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family from across the Pacific.   It is quite obvious that your grandfather was loved by many people.  Hang in there buddy.

[SD_Eagle5]

Damn Ed, sorry to hear about your loss.