2018 Life Logs, Day 358: Christmas Eve
Date: Monday, December 24, 2018
Weather: High 33, Low 27 degrees
Location: At Home with Marti Goldstone, Boothbay, ME
Sadness doth prevail on this Christmas Eve. I found out early this morning that Ed Kirwin, a fellow sailor, a wonderful friend, a kind and gentle man, passed away late last night. I had planned to leave here on Tuesday morning, make a stop in New Hampshire, and be in Nyack, New York, to visit with Ed and Lynne on Wednesday of this week. I am so sorry that I didn’t make there in time to say farewell, but I will be driving directly there on Tuesday to spend some time with Lynne. Ed found out in the spring of 2015 that he had pancreatic cancer and was given only months to live. But by making drastic changes in this diet, he gave himself almost three years of good quality life. Mark and I sailed across the Indian Ocean at the same time as Ed and Lynne and spent time in India, the Maldives, Chagos, Madagascar, and South Africa with them. It was a very special time and I cherish the wonderful memories of our experiences together. I tried to spend the rest of the day thinking of happy times with Ed and enjoying Christmas Eve. I know Ed would not want any of us sitting around being sad.
We listened to the Kings Choir on public radio this morning while the boys played
and the adults wrapped presents. There was a family game of Scrabble
and then after lunch Heather, Jed, and I drove into downtown Boothbay in the afternoon for a little last-minute shopping. The boys stayed home with Grammy Marti and played outside. When we returned, Jed’s Aunt Sue and Uncle John were here and we had a nice visit. Then it was time to prepare Christmas Eve dinner while the Goldpebbles practiced playing Jingle Bells on drums,
organ,
and electric guitar
in preparation for a ‘concert’ for family tomorrow evening. 
Off and on during the afternoon and evening, we were in contact with Justin and family in Puerto Rico via text and photos being sent back of forth. It is so hard to be separated during the holidays, but I am grateful that we can find ways to ‘see’ each other. They sent us a photo of their Christmas Eve dinner
and we sent them one of ours.
They sent a photo of their snack for Santa and we sent one of ours. Hopefully we will be able to do a Skype video call tomorrow, but I continue to have issues here with the internet. I am accessing the internet through a hot spot on my AT&T phone. Things are just not working like they should, so a video call might just be too much. We’ll see. After dinner this evening, Heather and Jed read Christmas stories to the boys and after the boys went to bed, it was time to help Santa gets those stockings filled.
Jonah very carefully counted and left 9 carrots for Santa’s reindeer and a candy cane and a cookie for Santa. I know it will be an early morning, so it is time to go to bed so Santa can come work his magic.
