Christmas Day with family is about as good as a holiday can be… If the world could be like ours seemed today, we could say there is indeed “Peace on Earth… Good will…”  

Some of us broke off from family celebrations in the middle of the day to join a few others in serving a special Christmas lunch at a senior center downtown. That interval was a bitter-sweet reminder that life is very good for some of us and not so easy for many others. The senior center lunch was more than adequate and received with gladness and appreciation by more than a hundred people; but it didn't include anything like Patrick's escargot served with his home-made French bread and Elaine's turkey and David's risotto in a cinderella pumpkin and Nancy's green bean casserole and candied sweet potatoes and Margaret's and Helen's desserts and a great variety of wonderful cheeses and other delicious dishes and good wine. We went back home to all that good stuff from the senior center determined to continue to try to find ways to convince reluctant legislators that the people who get their "free" Christmas dinner in a crowded room with strangers aren't dead beats. As a nation we've definitely got to find ways to give better, more consistent care to our citizens marginalized by poverty... without considering them a burden on the rest of us who are more fortunate.