(noon. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
It’s a rainy Christmas Day here in Los Angeles and so, after the waking up and the present opening (the Jew in the house still a tad bit disquieted by the decorated evergreen being kept alive by sugar water in the living room) and some of the food eating, we, the family, headed upstairs to watch a movie my wife, Holly, had managed to avoid for 38 years; It’s a Wonderful Life.
You know the tale… George Bailey gives and gives only to find himself in dire straights on Christmas Eve.
He’s suddenly short $8000 and wishing to God, quite literally, that he had never been born.
Well, there’s an angel and a look at a world without him and then there are his daughter’s Zuzu’s petals, that fell off a flower she was given and ARE in George Baily’s pocket when he’s alive and not so much when he’s not.
Right about the time Zuzu’s petals show up for the last time, there’s a lump in my throat… both my kids are leaning forward, chins resting on hands… and my wife a quiet, lovely mess, which is the prelude to the scribbled quote, from the angel, discovered in the copy of Tom Sawyer:
Dear George:-, Remember no man is a failure who has friends.,
Thanks for the wings!, Love, Clarence
And all the above made me first call some family, then some friends, and finally want very much to walk to the computer and write a short “thank you” to the cyber George and Geogina Baileys (who give and give of themselves) that have become my faceless acquaintances over the last 12 months.
2009 promises to be one of the most inspiring, and, likely, most terrifying in recent memory and to anyone who happens upon these words, may I wish for you… when you find yourselves in dire straits or inevitable self-doubts cause you to wonder if its all “worth it”… an angel at your side and Zuzu’s petals in your pocket.
***
Crossposted with my other friends you should know, Docudharma.com and MyLeftWing.com
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…George Bailey’s best friends are Bert and Ernie, which I’m hoping means THEY were the inspiration for the two gay friends on Sesame Street.
There is.
And they are.
pocket are there when I need them. They help when Pottersville seems inevitable. The angel by my side seems to come and go, but angels are like that. They are being spread pretty thin. Thanks Jeff, and thanks to the quite human community I find here. They tread where the angels fear to go. Next year I ‘hope’ we all have pockets full of pedals to spread around.
My friend needed to be driven home…she cannot drive (visually impaired), after spending Christmas with another friend of hers who never drives her and is not of our group. She likes us to drive so she doesn’t have to. We were having a small party for a mutual friend who was recovering from a hip replacement. It was very foggy and Pat needed to be driven home but she couldn’t ask us to take her home and was very upset. Judy and I were trying to get her to either let us take her home or stay overnight…she remarked…”Oh, this has been a terrible vacation!” So I told her, no it hasn’t because you have all these friends who care about you!
And I was thinking of “Wonderful Life”…how timely!
Unfortunately, you can’t “pump” this stuff in the hearts of greed!