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Hi Jim and Janet-- At last--soulmates! Fellow tinsel throwers! One of traditional stories bandied about at holidays here is how this almost 43-year romp never made it off the ground. My fiance and I were decorating the tree for the campus radio station's party, late as usual--I was so over-committed in those days and Don was so patient. When it came time for the tinsel, I scooped up a handful, voiced the opinion that we didn't have time for niceties, and let fly. You'd have thought I was flinging cow dung at him (rare in the middle of St. Louis)! Such a howl went up that I couldn't imagine what gross gaffe I'd committed. Tinsel was evidently akin to a sacramental in his house, treated with the respect due frankinscence. Things changed. We changed. I absented myself from the tinsel phase of trimming or ussed decorum in my application (not without a "wee smirk" creeping in); Don relaxed exponentially (the chaos of 5 kids under six helped) and actually tried his aim a time or two (but his heart's not in it). By the time #6 arrived--romp year16--he was trimming with martini in hand a la Finn but sans tinsel; I'd found these lovely gold icicles, two dozen with hangers. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. As my funny cousin told her husband when he moaned about what all his friends would say when they learned he'd resigned from his golf club, "Honey, half of them won't know, and the other half won't give a s---! #6 due in from Austin for his 25 birthday tomorrow so I'll sign off for the nonce. I wi sh all members of the list the same joy I feel--chemo behind me and memories-to-be ahead. Merry Christmas. Kathy Kunz