The Christmas Letter 2017

Merry Christmas 2017 from the Prices

A friend sent me a message not too long ago and reminded me that I had not written a Christmas letter in over four years.  I thought to myself, “My how time flies when you are senile.”  I couldn’t tell you why I stopped writing them, but it could have been that the cost of paper, postage, ink, Medicare, taxes, etc. exceeded my ability to do so.  I imagine it was that, like other events in life, Christmas seemed to pass so quickly each succeeding year that I just missed it altogether. I write every day, but I use the electronic media and my thoughts are cast into cyberspace with an occasional “Like” never to be seen again.  Some of my friends, though mentally and financially able to do so, have chosen not to join the rest of us in the 21^st Century.  So, I am going to dig around in the already full basket that sits in my desk above my computer screen and see how many forever stamps I have left.  If I can find my snail mail address book, and you haven’t moved and not notified me, I will send you this letter.  I will turn on my seldom used printer and go through the maintenance program to clean the print heads and use up several of the ink cartridges in the process.  The extremely smart digital printer only cost me $42.00 at Sam’s Club, but the ink is $400.00 per tiny cartridge.  No, this is it.  You will not receive a large package delivered by FedEx a week before Christmas.  We, the Price Clan, are living in Harlingen, Texas which, if you go by the nearest route to the Rio Grande River is located about 8 miles from Mexico.  Our girls started their families a little later than some, but we can’t complain about the quality of the grandkids they have produced.  Barbara and I are still able to drive and baby sit so there are no plans to put us in assisted living yet.  Amanda and her husband, Chris Daniels, have our little two year old, Caston.  Andrea and her husband, Leonel Munoz, (imagine there is a tilde above the “n”) have Aaron (our eldest 6^th grader), Ava (4^th grader) and our little surprise, Landry, who is one year old. We are royally entertained.  All are doing well.  Barbara and I have had our 50^th High School reunions since the last letter, and we celebrated our 70^th birthdays this year.  I know this may seem young to some of you reading this letter, but it isn’t.  If you think this print is too small, go and find your magnifying glass.  Barbara and I decided to go on a cruise from Barcelona, Spain to Athens, Greece to celebrate making it this far.  We just got back last Sunday.  I still don’t know what time it is and I have to look at the calendar to get the correct day of the week.  It was a great cruise and we were treated royally on the ship.  Our ship was the “Marina” of the Oceania Cruise Line and it lived up to the billing. I can’t say as much for the airlines. I haven’t flown much since 9/11 because of the ridiculous security measures now in place, and the airlines have now exceeded all reason by adding seats without increasing the size of the planes. In the redesign of the 300 passenger jets, intended for the long haul, they saved money by staying with the four restroom plan. P.S. The aisles between you and the restrooms are usually blocked by the beverage cart.  I have been sleeping in my recliner for the last week to decompress.  Our mail of late has had the usual bills, but we are seeing an increase in letters telling us we qualify for all kinds of medical devices and special government programs to make our lives easier.  I have given up on all paid employment as of last December and have chosen to live on the government dole.  Our cars are so old we had to unplug the phones because the extended warranty people were tying up the line.  I hope I’ve covered all the bases.  We do miss seeing all of you and we fondly remember our visits.  If you are inclined to come for a visit please do.  As we celebrate the Christmas season we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Remember, Jesus Christ is the reason for the season.  Please share our greetings and hug all your kids for us.  We are hoping to see you all soon. 

All our love to all of you, The Prices