Dear 123Greetings subscriber,

Still in high spirits guys?! Halloween is over, but the fun ain’t… I’m back to share more. Just not the smile I promise, there would be tears too. Ask me why?! Smile, I can share with anyone anytime, but tears are for those special ones. With me now…?! Yes. Thank you. Hop on…!

Kong loves his doghouse. Rachel, my niece, did the interiors. Of course, it had her signature. Two teddy toys, poster of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and Kong’s plate with “King Kong” scribbled on it by Rachel. She takes it up on herself to do the chore of cleaning his abode every weekend.

She has gotten him a new collar and Kong is smitten. He’s protective of Rachel and announces that to every stranger with a bark. Well, Kong went ill the other day and wouldn’t move out of his doghouse and where Rachel is, yes, by his side. She would pat him, snuggle close to him, and even sing to him. The little one’s kindness was seen to be believed! She was scared and worried.

And she prayed. Yes, she went down on her knees and recited a verse from the Bible. Kong was listening religiously. She couldn’t get the verse right, stumbled, and fumbled, even skipped a phrase here and there, but when she was through, Kong placed his paws on her lap, raised his neck and licked her by the ear and the little girl giggled. Believe me, Jesus would have smiled!

This day reminds me of an incident that defines my friendship with Meggy. There was a time when Meggy and I hanged out almost everyday. We had our share of fun. She would shop until she dropped and I’d be the good friend who carried the bags. She is a sweetheart and you all know that.

She has gotten along with Aaliyah good, but there is something about Meggy that’s unnerving to me these days. A friend knows when a friend sulks! Trouble!

We met up at Macy’s for a coffee and she opened up.

“Bob, I love the way things are… Aaliyah and you and all that… it’s jus’ I’m… I guess… I miss you.” When she is vulnerable and opening up, she looks so innocent that you melt. Melt, I did.

“Meggy, you’re my friend and I’m…”

“Hey, Bob, hello Meggy” Aaliyah made her grand entrance.

Oops! Not now.

“hmm… so the bad old pals are teaming up eh? What are you cooking?” Aaliyah.

“Hey, it’s been a while, we just wanted to catch up.” Meggy.

“You know Megs, I’m kinda jealous of you, I mean, here is this Bob on a date with me and every girl who is funny reminds him of you, and anything that is cute with two legs, he goes, “Aaliyah, you saw that kid’s smile, that’s Meggy’s copyright! I go red, of course, but he doesn’t care.”

“But…” Bob

“Yeah, I was like, hey Bob, I’M HERE…, but tell ya what, he loves you so much that he just couldn’t stop himself and the innocence he says it with, man, that’s wow… and you Meggy you are one sweet devil…”

She can ramble, can’t she?! There was a heavy cloud of silence hanging on us for a while, I guess it happens when things clear up.

Everybody knows everything… it’s just that the one you love explains it better. I owe it to Aaliyah.

Not everyday Steve extends an invite for home-made dinner. Yes, our geeky guy had literally came up with an idea to cook and we were the unassuming turkeys at the wrong side of the plate. When we reached his place, he was all set to be a chef err. . . almost! He was donning this UFO cap of his, the worn-down curtain for an apron, and sprucing up the spice with an antenna-like wand… OMG! He looked like an alien!

He said “fudge.” Yes, the whole entourage crowded around Steve and lent him a hand. Steve had questions of course and the recipe-expert Meggy gave out tips aplenty. 15 minutes later, Steve made a grand entrance from the kitchen amidst the smoke, almost St. Peterish! Just the “halo” missing.

“Mission Accomplished” he announced with a twinkle in his eye. Hmm… of course, he served the fudge and it was divided in two equal parts.

Silence.

I got up and got the spoons and errr… hammer… yes. The so-called fudge looked a soup and a solid marble. You better be equipped with spoons and hammers. Ron did what everybody wished. He picked up the hammer and went after Steve.

The voice does echo for long in Steve’s place. “I Hate To Cook ”…… well, that was the yell, and it resonated even when we heard the thud of the hammer coming down somewhere down the stairs…!

“Chuck the diet pill.” That’s my old man’s favorite phrase. He gobbles up the goodies, now that he’s retired and hits the couch for a game of football. Mom gets furious at that and she has even censored him from calling her “honey,” she is so scared of anything sweet now, even a word, after he was diagnosed with diabetes.

His reasoning, “Bobby, what’s life if you don’t eat what you like…”

It wasn’t an awful thought, old man deserves a break for Christ-sake! But I love him too much to let him wreck his life.

I did the right thing, I called up Debbie, my sister; Rachel; and John, my nephew, and of course, all my friends, Meggy, Aaliyah, Ron, Steve, and Kate — even Kong made his presence felt!

Dad was at his grand-host mood…. When his steak stocks ran out, he settled in for a conversation. And we all rooted for mom, “Dad, you got to take it slow…” I said, and everyone looked him in the eye. He shifted uncomfortably… and after a long silence, “But there’s Christmas around, guys; time to have fun and…”

Aaliyah interrupted, “Dad, we want you with us every Christmas…”

I thought I was the only one who can never say “NO” to Aaliyah. Dad stopped himself, stared at her for a while, broke into a smile and bellowed, “Chuck the sweets!”

Let your folks know there are sweeter things than the sweets to live for!

Sure, I’’ll be back.

Peace,

Bob
Editor, 123Greetings
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