Christmas Eve

This is the first time in 60 years that I will celebrate Christmas Eve without my wife, Marie. She has been gone for a year now and I am still trying to adjust. However, my daughters are joining me for Christmas. Nancy is coming down from Austin and Katrinka is coming from New York, bringing her husband, Michael. It is nice to have two dedicated daughters. Yes, I am 90 years old. I did not plan to live this long but apparently I am not in charge of my destiny. On Friday we will visit Bob and Cindy Peterman here in New Braunfels. Uncle Bob is my brother-in-law. On Saturday we will go to Austin to visit Arnold and Dorothy Snygg. Arnold is retired from NASA where he helped develop the stealth bomber. Arnold is a scientist. But when he came to this country at the age of 6 he could not speak English. We are taking Sally Wiginton Arnold with us. It was her mother who referred to Arnold as "Little Arnold." This is part of the Swedeish-American heritage. Arnold was born in Sweden, but his father was a U.S. citizen. Arnold graduated from the University of Texas and soon started an illustrious career in the Space program. This is all part of our culture.