So I’m not so sure if it was Christmas or the two movies I saw or both. All I know is that during the recent Holidays I got emotional enough to shed a tear when figure skaters fell down and went boom; even felt sorry for the bruins. Maybe I’m just getting old? Nah.
As easily as I can remember Clarence the Angel’s note to George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life” I know what the Angel, Second Class really meant to say was, “He is not a failure who has friends…and family.” When we’re one of the really lucky ones, we get to have both.
So in “Up in the Air” George Clooney played a confirmed bachelor who, on the surface, was totally comfortable with his independence and freedom from all legit personal commitments to anything but his career. And I’ve always wanted to identify with Clooney on some level.
While I’ve successfully dodged giving up free Sundays or the gym every night or personal relationships that could lead to me calling or seeing that special woman every single day, I’ve never held back on my commitment to family.
Hope I’m not grossing y’all out with this personal stuff and next week’s column is all about dentures if you can wait that long.
My immediate family is down to Aunt Clara these days and if I don’t give her a shout-out she’ll call Palermo collect and OM Dalila will finally get that younger DDS replacement she’s always talking about.
Believe it or not I’ve read “The Secret” and there are far worse ways to start the day than by expressing gratitude. So every morning “I’m grateful for…doing something I love and working with people I love.” There are also far worse ways to spend a day.
My TCDC crew of six has been solid for the last seven years (and I include myself to make the number more impressive but you know you’re an integral part when everyone else has headaches and you don’t.) OM Dalila has been around for over eleven years and whaddya gonna do when you finally find someone else who’s smart and went to Mark Keppel HS. Well, what you do is say thanks all the time, especially when you get to be Godfather for Dalila’s daughter and future barrister, Ashley.
I couldn’t have two finer dental assistants than Dani and Kolleen, even though their considerable technical skills don’t even come close to equaling their stature as human beings. If I had daughters I wish they could be Dani and Kolleen (we’ve already gone through most of the difficult stages.)
My dental hygienists Jennifer and Peggy have the skills that used to save teeth and today more likely save at least quality of life if not life itself. Peggy’s the Mom of three and Jen commutes all the way from Manhattan Beach; they both relate to people on “Hello.”
So my family away from home has been there when my Mom died; most of ’em started out shortly after four team members got scared off by a business plan. They all wore black the Monday after the Trojans lost to Texas. A couple of years ago, they made a dream come true and there I was one bright Sunday morning eating a canolli in Piana degli Albanesi in Sicily.
A couple of weeks ago, I had to make some hard choices to get us through a difficult 2009. Later that day (having impersonated Scrooge,) I opened a Christmas gift from my team; it was two VIP tickets to a Celtics’ game at Staples.
I’ve been a diehard Celtics fan since grammar school.
But my quintet trumps even the Celtics. They’re every bit as gifted…and I love ’em… because they’re family.
