1st Xmas without mom, 2 sick with tummy virus, Jr had to put his dog to sleep, etc

[Omaha Steve]

Vomit-inducing stomach virus a gut check throughout Midlands: http://www.omaha.com/article/20121221/LIVEWELL01/712219934


Mom always made Christmas special until the last few years. She past away in August. The last present she picked out for me last year sits on the fireplace hearth.

I was having a hard time getting in the swing. Picking out presents didn't have the usual joy. Christmas songs on the radio and watching our annual selection of Christmas videos has helped.

I volunteered to work Christmas Day for the first time in years so a single parent could be with her kids.

We changed our family get together when 2 different households got the virus. This is the first year ever it has just been Marta and I on Christmas Eve.

Jr. had to put his Mocha down late last week. No choice. She was a beagle. She is on their Christmas card.

But it is finally starting to feel like Christmas again.

To my large extended family on the DU, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and PEACE for the New Year.

Warmest regards,

Omaha Steve

[Faygo Kid]

1. Life is tough, and you've had your share. But Merry Christmas, Omaha Steve.

Nobody gets out of this alive. But we'll still watch George C. Scott's "A Christmas Carol" tonight, as always on Christmas Eve, and treasure those still with us.

Peace is always my fondest wish, too, although elusive. Don't forget to use a little mistletoe tonight - good stuff.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Merry Christmas Steve!

[Kookaburra]

3. Peace to you, Omaha Steve

I know what you're going through. This will be my mother's last Christmas, and she doesn't have a clue what's going on anymore. I will have her here at my house, and my brother will join us as well (he's in a nursing home, but will be able to come here for a little while). It will only be the 3 of us, as the rest of the family is gone, but I need to make this one special, because chances are very good that I'll be spending the next one alone. And my cat died Saturday.

But I am determined to enjoy myself and make merry.

[LiberalEsto]

7. Wishing you a good Christmas, Kookaburra

You never know someone else might join you next Xmas.
I'm very sorry about your cat.

[Kookaburra]

11. Aw, thank you Sweetie.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas too.

(My cat was very old, so it wasn't unexpected, but still didn't make it any easier.)

[niyad]

15. so very sorry about your kitty, even though it was at least expected. I know how hard that

is.

and hugs and good thoughts that this year will be better than you are anticipating.

[Kookaburra]

17. Thank you so much niyad

I hope your Christmas is filled with love and joy.

[malaise]

4. Here's what you need

Happy Holidays Omaha Steve!!!

[Panasonic]

5. Merry Christmas to you, OS.

May you and Marta have a happy holidays and a peaceful New Year's.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. Merry Christmas, Steve.

I hope things start looking up for you and you family.

[LiberalEsto]

8. Wishing you the best

and hoping it's better than you expect!

LibE

[Smilo]

9. Dear Omaha Steve

I won't lie - it doesn't get easier for several years. I lost my Dad on 22nd December 19 years ago and my Mum last year - miss them like crazy.

Have a cry, say hello to them, talk to them and know they are around you and yes even Mocha will be by to visit.
(As a Spiritualist - I believe that the existence and personal identity of the individual continues after the change call death. And that communication with the so-called dead is a fact scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism.)

And know that we on DU are sending you much love and wishing you peace and happiness for tomorrow and always.

[pacalo]

10. I feel ya, Steve.

I lost my best friend, my mom, two days after Thanksgiving. Absolutely the funniest, wisest woman I've ever known. My heart is broken, but she was suffering so much in the last year. I wasn't in the mood for the holidays, either.

And I lost my best buddy, too: Gizmo, my 12-year-old Boston Terrier. It took two new Boston Terriers to fill the house again with joy: Gladys & Abner. Each one seems to have some trait that Gizmo had. I hope your son will get another dog; it really does help heal the pain.

Merry Christmas to you & your lovely wife!

[Raine]

12. (((((((Omaha Steve))))))) nt

[roguevalley]

13. Your mom is with you, OmahaSteve. It took me four years to get back to

the holidays after my parents died. I wish you so much peace. It will come with time.

[niyad]

14. sending you lots of DU love and good thoughts for tonight, for the coming days. I know this

has been a really tough year for you, for so many here. Here's hoping that the "end of the world" meant the end of all the BS we have all endured, and the beginning of something much better.

and hugs to jr as well. losing our companions is always hard, but more so at this time.

[bvar22]

16. Christmas Greetings to my Working Class DEMOCRAT friend.

I lost my Mom 15 years ago.
Christmas is never the same when your Mom is gone.
The memories hurt sometimes,
but are there to remind us what LOVE is,
and that it is now OUR job to give that to someone else.

My heart goes out to you tonight.
Merry Christmas to a friend I haven't met.

--bvar22
an FDR Working Class UNION Democrat

[hollysmom]

18. been there

Lost mom a few years ago, but found it felt best when we acknowledge her passing and tell the family stories - everyone has family stories about remember when Mom....... Remember how Mom used to ......

It was the same with Dad before her - we must have told the Dad making horseradish story a hundred times.

My Christmas newsletter this year - reads - what can you say about a year that starts off with a doctor telling you you have cancer and ends with your beach house under 4 feet of water and sewage? It was not too bad a year, Still healthy and happy (and treated) with everyone in the family still healthy and no one is out of work or starving or on drugs or in jail.

[w8liftinglady]

19. Bless you all....I hope you can feel the hugs from above.

She's smiling.
Hugs to those lil sickos...my kid is just now getting over the fluish thing himself.

[femmocrat]

20. Sending you Christmas wishes, Steve.

I hope the new year will bring your family better times.

[JDPriestly]

21. Merry Christmas, Omaha Steve.

Thanks for all your contributions to DU.

[rppper]

22. Prayers and positive thoughts to you and yours OS!

My first Christmas after my mothers death in '05 was hard on me and my children too...she sounds like she would have been smiling and laughing with all of you...keep THAT memory alive today. You will do her justice! Drink lots of liquids and get your house feeling better, it truly only goes up from here! You are in our thoughts friend!