Before I put pen to paper, we go over the year,
Using five or six calendars, we try to make it clear.
We go month by month, so we don’t miss a thing,
Every month a doctor?  How does that ring?
It was a long, long year, long before it expired,
Not really a bad year, but boy are we tired.

Carole started the year at Johns Hopkins, minor surgery so to    speak,
But the follow-up visit showed infection, and she was there for a     week.
Johns Hopkins is special, had her Whipple in 2012,
Clean for five years, so concerns can be shelved.

Disney and golf school and Missy and the kids,
Great to see family and keep golf off the skids.
But shooting 79 when you’re 78, then 80 when you’re 79,
Means not shooting your age, and that’s not fine.

A May RAJA at Disney, what a delight,
Old Friends and Mickey, now that’s a sight.
As soon as we’re back, it’s off to Cape May,
It’s a Fairfax trip, filling the day.

Becky and Missy visited over the Fourth,
A Lancaster opportunity to sally forth.
We hit all the outlets, then crabs at Harris,
How many can we eat, why don’t you dare us?
Home for the brunch, joined by Paul, Sandy and Jack,
Seven at the table, gaiety yak.

This is the year of missing teeth for Daddy Jack,
Had his front tooth extracted way, wayback.
A flipper, a tray, it just didn’t matter,
A lisp, trapped food and usually splatter.
But after eight months of this ordeal,
Front teeth have returned, and they really look real!

We had parties and parties and parties galore,
For holidays, anniversaries, birthdays and more.
A giving society thank you, the Foundation scene,
Parties for our building, luaus and Halloween.
And what about next year? Probably the same,
We’ll dance around the clock, unless we are lame.

The kids are doing well, but we don’t see them enough,
A quick trip here, a quick trip there, and all that FaceTime stuff.
But next year will be better, it really should be great,
Seventeen of us on an Alaskan cruise, we already have the date.

This was not a good year for politics, nor sports here is DC,
Mutual respect and brotherhood, were a never answered plea.
But family and friends really filled the void,
and brought life into perspective,
It’s all of you and your smiling eyes, that makes hope more reflective.

So we close this year’s poem with more hope that fear,
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Written by PJ Rice at www.ricequips.com

Copyright 2017