"Christmas Eve, Dick! Christmas, Ebenezer!" May the Ghost of Christmas Past ("Long past?" "No, your past.") remind you of happinesses that are no more but still linger in memory. May the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come, ever mutable, reveal shadows of pleasures still to come. May the Ghost of Christmas Present see naught but cheer in your home and in your heart this sunny day -- and may those two frightful children who clutch at him, Want and Ignorance, diminish their presence in this world.

"And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:" Bill-the-Honeybear. Penny. Kathe and Neal and Alex. Nancy and Larry. Paul. Sherri. Charlie. Steve. Gordon. Mike and Lou and the Queen City Rollers. Skip and Alan. TJ and Jon. Kevin. Mindy. Marianne and Bob. Just the short list of my Christmas Presents who expand my life by being in it, and who for some improbable reason let me be in their lives.

Irwin, my first love. Mom and Dad. Martha. Andrea. Diane. Wendy. Grandma Baker. Grandma and Grandpa Neuner. Ralph. My Christmas Pasts who brought such joy to my life, and who still live in memory.