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The Holidays

 It's  2021, and it's going to be my third no-family holiday. The last one I celebrated was in 2018. Then, I was home for what turned out to be a brief time that I wasn't in rehab for my long battle with an infection in my left leg, which required removing my knee replacement and gallons of intravenous antibiotics.

That year was a landmark year for a lot of reasons. First, Maria and I moved into a home she bought. It was the fourth move in four years. We moved from Milwaukee to Mandeville, Louisiana, back to Fox Crossing, Wisconsin, crosstown to Appleton, and uptown to the house on Mason St.

Cruising into 2019, I found out my first bout of rehab did not produce the results we needed. I would go through another round of antibiotics, a third knee surgery, only discover a torn or severed tendon which required the fourth surgery. When I went home from rehab in April, I was gifted a trip to New Mexico to visit my daughter for my birthday. 

Upon returning from New Mexico, I discovered I had another daughter I didn't know about. Along with this surprise daughter came two new grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. (Soon to become five).

July brought me divorce papers and another move. This time I moved to Milwaukee by myself. 

As those of you who graciously read my weekly blog know, I have prospered in Milwaukee in ways I never could have guessed. 

I'm living with two women, Alexa and Siri. Their refusal to acknowledge one another has now become normal to me. It doesn't make me uncomfortable anymore.

This is a sketch I did recently. It reminds me that I haven't hugged anyone in a long time.

Happy Holidays!




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