Well, here it is! Thanksgiving is upon us so can Christmas be far behind? And maybe my favorite, the New Year celebrations are lurking too. The great holiday seasons are right here and if we don’t let the “tiresome” and repetitious jingles on TV get the best of us, we can enjoy these times. As I age, I think New Years is my new favorite.

Why? Well, I don’t have to drag that heavy tree and its baggage out of my garage and decorate it and our house like I do for Christmas. The celebration of our Savior’s birth requires quite a bit of work and sometimes I am just glad when it’s over— before it starts. But New Years? Just celebrate it or ignore it. The New Year comes in with or without us.

We just celebrated Veterans’ Day here in Allen with a big school assembly and did our community wide celebration of sorts. This year it was in the school auditorium — a nice place in and out of the chill winds of November. The welcome sounds of happy school kids filled that auditorium as a very nice program was presented. I was very proud of our Allen Mustangs as they presented a great Veterans’ Day program for all of us. I thought our young people spoke well and looked good.

Speaking of Fall, we are enjoying some of the nicest days we’ve had in years. The leaves are working on perfection — getting to the exact right colors and we have had some nice weather to boot. Meanwhile, I’m trying to concentrate on another upcoming event — Thanksgiving Dinner with family and loved ones.

I spoke on Armistice Day at school about my Uncle Ezra’s and other relatives’ experiences in World War II. Another one of the persons I mentioned was my cousin Clytee Armstrong’s experience off one of those awful islands in the Pacific. Clytee is the only sailor I know that was sunk twice on one day. After being rescued by another ship it too was torpedoed and went down. It was probably sunk by the same Jap sub. Luckily, after thrashing around in shark infested waters for a few minutes, Clytee and his floundering shipmates were rescued again by a 3rd US Navy ship. Cousin Clytee finally made it back to land and eventually home to Phillips, Texas. But I still ponder the big crowd of three Navy ship crews being carried by the 3rd rescue ship. Wonder what they fed them.

The last I heard from Clytee before his recent passing was he had retired from Phillps Oil Company and moved to the little Texas Panhandle town of Fritz. Clytee also sent me some information about moving to Mexico. But I’m not moving. Here’s what my late cousin Clytee told me about this timely topic. Moving down there differs a lot more for us legally moving there than it does for a Mexican illegally coming to the United States. Americans moving there are not allowed to vote nor to own private property. Getting a job is complex as you need a hard-to-get Mexican driver’s license. Nor can you just go to your kid’s school and demand that the class be taught in English so your child could understand what the teacher is saying. Forget that. If you need health care insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid, put that out of your mind, too. Mexicans are very suspicious of foreigners wanting to move in with them.

If you get in an accident in Mexico and are hurt badly, better have a way to get north. A helicopter perhaps. Hospital care in Mexico is very subliminal and is cash in advance for foreigners such as you. And if you think drugs and crime are bad here, well you may be in for a surprise down south of the border. Ever heard of the cartel? Did you know these criminals run and control many cities in Mexico? No? You better just stay at home and count your blessings.

Cousin Clytee has moved on to heaven and, in fact, very few WWII veterans are left with us. What a debt we owe these guys! But now I just hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving with your families. Have a good week and remember to go to church on Sunday. And yes, I enjoy hearing from you.

Wayne Bullard, DPh

cwaynebullard@gmail.com