COMMUNITY & CLUBS:

I should have listened to Dr. Scott Jenkins when I had my annual physical exam this fall. He offered up the new pneumonia shot, tetanus booster and flu shot. I took him up on the first two and not the latter one.

Daughter Jodi, her husband, Zach, and grandson Parker drove the 525 miles from Chico to our home in Rancho Mirage, and daughter Stacy came with her boyfriend, Kyle, and their newly adopted dog, Riley, to spend some time with us Christmas week.

It was the first Christmas with a grandchild, Parker, who is only six months old, but that doesn’t make a difference to Grandma and Grandpa. Barbara and I enjoyed every minute we spent with Parker, knowing we could give him back to Jodi and Zach when he needed to be fed or to have his diaper changed.

A little after 6 a.m. on Christmas, the adults gathered around the Christmas tree to open gifts, which were many, especially for Parker who was sleeping and wouldn’t have known what was going on anyway.

At 9 a.m. I was off to 29 Palms Marine Corp. Station to pick up four Marines who would spend Christmas Day with our family. I literally drove through rain, snow, fog and high winds on the drive to 29 Palms.

The Marines, from Ohio, Michigan, New York and Alabama, had just arrived the night before to the base, having finished their boot and combat training on the East Coast several days before. They had arrived at the base at night and had not seen the Yucca Valley in the day time. They had missed Thanksgiving with their families and now Christmas, and they were appreciative of our willingness to share Christmas with them.

We drove back on Highway 62 to Interstate 10, then went into Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage and Palms Desert to give the Marines a tour of the Coachella Valley.

In the afternoon, Zach and Kyle took the Marines to a movie at the local theater, and when they returned, six neighbors joined us for a gift exchange and Christmas dinner of turkey, ham and all the trimmings. Just before I was to say the blessing, I headed to the bathroom and didn’t return to the dinner table. I should have taken the flu shot from Jenkins.

Zach and Kyle drove the Marines back to the base after dinner under a lot better weather conditions.

The next day I received the following e-mail from one of the Marines’ mom: “I just wanted to let you know how much our family appreciates you and your wife for ‘adopting’ our son and his friends for Christmas. This is the first holiday season that we have not had Max at home for Thanksgiving or Christmas and there probably will be many more times in his Marine career that we will not get to be with him, but having you take him into your home was the next best thing. He had a wonderful time and really enjoyed spending time with you. When he called to tell me he was with you, he said he was glad because after he had talked to his little brothers that morning and they asked him when he was coming home, he was pretty upset and homesick. Thank you!”

For our family the Christmas gifts didn’t matter that much. Our Christmas was blessed, having family, friends and the Marines with us.

Best wishes for the New Year!

WORTH REPEATING

Thought for the Day as provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council: “Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not some- thing you do in your spare time.”

COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Wednesdays. Send your service club’s meeting information by fax to (714) 921-8655 or by e-mail to jdeboom@aol.com.