Friday, December 26, 2025 – Day 500

Friday, December 26, 2025

Good morning, everyone. 
Happy belated birthday to Kathy B. I really meant to capture that yesterday…but Christmas had other plans.

Christmas with the grandkids was even better than I expected. Wyatt was up by 6:00 a.m. and quickly made his way downstairs, spying all the presents—and the cookie crumbs and half-eaten carrots left behind by Santa and his reindeer. Seeing a true believer in Santa is pure magic.

By 7:00 a.m., after many polite (and not-so-polite) requests to tear into the presents, we finally had all six of us assembled for the big reveal. If six of us felt pokey getting organized, you should have seen the nearly 30 of us trying to do this years ago at my parents’ house. It was something to behold. It’s a good thing we had mimosas back then to take the edge off.

Yesterday was all about the grandkids, and they were terrific. They loved their presents and never once lost control during the moments when it wasn’t their turn. By 8:30 a.m. we had finished opening everything—quite a contrast to the 3:00 p.m. finish times at 1922. As much as I loved those big gatherings growing up, I have to admit I prefer the early completion of gift distribution.

Nikki, Zack, and Alex disappeared for a brief moment and came back into the room wearing Chicago marathon bibs for 2026. Seeing them together with creative bibs was very moving. It of course created a tearful moment for me. What started a small idea with Andy’s Army has blossomed into a marathon team of 15. Thank you to everyone running and thank you to everyone for supporting them. I’m honored. 🥲

The kids had a busy day ahead. They needed to get to their mom’s house for Christmas, part two, so by 10:30 a.m. everyone was packed up and ready to roll. The hour-long drive gave Wyatt and Coco a chance for a much-needed recharge nap.

As it turned out, their departure gave me a chance to take a breather—literally. I was short of breath and dealing with intestinal issues, and I started to feel like a flu bug might be creeping in. There was one small problem with this double threat: figuring out how to breathe and purge 🤢 at the same time. I managed to keep everything under control, but I never really felt right the rest of the day.

That made for unfortunate timing when my brother Bill showed up unexpectedly in the early afternoon. He had flown in from Orlando and wanted to surprise me—and he absolutely did. I wasn’t able to get out of bed, so he came upstairs and we spent a short time together. Between the ALS breathing issues and whatever else was going on, it wasn’t quite the surprise visit either of us had hoped for. Sorry, Bill.

I stayed put for the remainder of the day. Cindy went over to Barb and Mark’s for their afternoon celebration. Periodically she checked in on me to see if I needed anything—which is really code for, “Did you fall?” I’m happy to report there were no mishaps, and I never had to visit the porcelain gods. The jury is still out on how I feel this morning. It’s early, but I think I may have dodged a bullet.

Have a great post-Christmas day.
Love you guys! ❤️