Dear Family and Friends,                            

We truly wish you all a Merry Christmas!  We have been blessed this year, and from your letters and emails, you and your families have been blessed as well.  It has been a topsy-turvy year for us… lots of good news but some bad news as well.  And isn’t that the way with life…we almost have to know the bad to appreciate the good; suffer the injustice to recognize the need to correct it; experience the illness to revel in good health.

Like the father, Tevia,  in “Fiddler on the Roof”, I must ask, “Dear Lord, why do You give us aching joints, artificial knees, and sore muscles just when we are learning the great game of golf?”  On the other hand, I must thank You for letting me be able to even play golf at 71. But, on the other hand, I don’t play so good with all these problems. But, of course, on the other hand, I may not have played very well in the first place!” Yep, I’m hooked on the game, or in LaVern’s way of putting it…addicted!  Thanks to my dear little brother and some of my old (and I mean ‘old) school buddies, I took up the game  ….and broke 100 this year!  However, I’m sorry to say that, except for my brother, James, I have not had much contact with my brother and sisters. Sue and Bill; Jane, Bretney, Blu, and Little James; Vance and Shirley….I’m sorry I haven’t stayed in touch. I’ll do better!

We had the pool and deck re-surfaced this year and enjoyed a beautiful setting for those moments of peace and relaxation that come from time to time.  I must ask, “Dear Lord, why must the few moments of enjoyment of the cool, sparkling water be followed by hours and hours of filtering, skimming, brushing, etc, and many dollars in chemicals?” On the other hand,  I know You have many poor people who must find water to drink from dirty ditches and polluted ponds!  I should complain?”

It was a year of good times with old friends and classmates. It is hard to imagine the things this group comes up with to make us laugh, and make us cry.  We challenge each other intellectually, spiritually, politically, competitively, and creatively.  We have experienced places, things, events, and activities in this band of brothers and sisters that we would never have thought of before.  I must ask, “Dear Lord, why is it we wait to the twilight of our lives to find such joy and pleasure in the company of those who were our friends as children?  On the other hand, I guess we had to go out into the world and search for such happiness only to find that we had it all the time.”  Life is the strangest journey, isn’t it?

It was a good year for kids and grandkids, too.  While we mainly keep up with their activities and accomplishments via email, cards, letters , and phone calls, we were able to spend time with many of them.  With 9 families and 31 grandkids, you can imagine the activities that are on-going, and the strides they are all making in school, as missionaries, and in all sorts activities and vocations.  One of the things LaVern and Jamie were able to do this year was to see the sights of San Francisco together.  She and Jacob enjoyed several activities during the year, including hiking and camping in the Ouachita mountains and attending a University of Texas football game at Austin.

I was equally lucky in that I got to head west and visit Skip and Carol and their kids; Rusty, Natalie, and their kids; and, also, Rick and Kimberlee and their kids.  In Idaho, we watched Mason play ball, and toured Rusty’s dental office (and watched him pull a tooth).  Then, in Utah, we spent a day at the lake swimming and boating, and took in a ball game at the stadium where Cole will be playing his college ball.  The best part, though, was just hanging out and enjoying all the kids and grandkids as they interacted with each other. It was a wonderful trip and the kids treated me royally.  Also, I spent a weekend with Rory and his family at Branson, MO and that was a blast.  Doing well are Robin and her family in Rogers, Randy and Jim in San Diego, Sherre and her family in Belgium, and Rynn and her family in Germany. Some breaking news: Rusty and Natalie are expecting their 4^th child….Casey has returned safely from Iraq, received a promotion to Major, and been assigned to West Point as an instructor….I’m compelled to ask, “Lord, how can a person be entitled to so many wonderful and talented children, and so many beautiful and gifted grandchildren?”  Then, I just smile and think to myself, “Of course! It is all in the genes!”

The game I have been working on …forever…alas, did not withstand the test!  It proved to be too complicated and will not, it seems, replace horseshoes or washers as the national tailgate game.

Back to the drawing board……….or not.

I’ve been asked, “Why are you still working?”  My answer is, “Given how much I do as a Relief Pharmacist

(see photo of a typical day at the pharmacy), and how much they pay me to do it…..duh!” (Besides, it puts off the day when I will have to start using savings and investments to support the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed, to wit… keeping dry, keeping warm or cool, having something to eat on a regular basis, having some entertainment on a regular basis (TV and the like), and having the ways and means to travel around.)

This year we found out what it is like to have the doctor walk in and say, “Mr. McWhorter, what you have in your neck is a malignant cancer…. a squamous cell carcinoma of a lymph node!  Kinda makes you grab the couch with your buttocks. Then he tells me that it is 99% curable…..when the day before he told me he was 99% certain it was an infected salivary gland.  You feel yourself squeezing the couch a little harder!  Long story short, guys, they are about 99% sure they got it all.  My follow-up visit on Dec 13^th was good…no evidence of any continued activity.  They will see me once a month for a while, then quarterly for the next 5 years or until I pass, whichever comes first.  (Just kidding!)   I want to ask, “Lord, why must I be afflicted with this cancer at this time in my life when I have so much going on and so much living to do?  On the other hand, you nitwit, you have been blessed far beyond what you deserve.  Compared to most people, you have not been tested by poverty, ill health, discrimination, lack of education, or any of the conditions that try men’s souls and torment them to the point they can only seek the Lord for deliverance from their state.  Is it because you have been favored of the Lord that he has kept these afflictions from you, …or is it because you are weak and the Lord didn’t think you could handle such a test…?  I suspect I’m a fixin’ to find out.

Everyone, enjoy the holidays, remember your friends and family, hold them close and tell them often how much you love them.  Don’t wait for special events to savor life, do it hour by hour, day by day…..

Help all of God’s little creatures, (except maybe ants, ticks, and fleas,) and those folks in your neighborhood who just may be having a rough time of it right now.  We love you!    

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Robert and LaVern