Drinking orange flavored Fanta, I really didn't want to be here. The last two vacations with my family had been to the same country. It was my fault. My sister-in law, Kathy, had called me about going on a cruise. I was excited as there were a few places I'd never seen before. When we spoke again she said her sons and their wives wanted to do a family vacation and one had suggested another cruise that stopped in Panama. I had finished a book on building the Panama Canal, so I was in. The next few phone calls included different itinerary, after the last call I said, "Work it out, you don't have to call. Make the arrangements and tell me where I'm going." I'm not sailing in the Caribbean, not sailing at all, I'm in Mexico for the third year in a row with my family; just a different resort. I'd already tried doing the tour of Chichen Itza and Tulum on two other years so my nephew surprised me by suggesting 'The Jungle Tour'. I immediately said
Bert didn't celebrate Christmas anymore. It wasn't that he disliked Christmas; it was just that he didn't have anyone to celebrate it with, so why bother? He went to dinner with relatives and participated in the family gatherings, but he didn't decorate the house, didn't put out any decorations, didn't put up a tree; Christmas was just another day. It hadn't always been like this. He used to have his family around him, and they always had a very nice Christmas. Bert, his wife, and their children had always decorated the house, put out seasonal lawn ornaments, and a large Christmas tree, brightly decorated with many ornaments, some store bought, but also many home-made by family members over the years. There were some of these that had survived for several generations; each being carefully wrapped and put away after the season. Away but not forgotten, and they would be unwrapped and put on the tree the next year. Each brought back a particular memory about th