Thursday
El Milagro: There are no Christmas decorations at El Milagro Dialysis Center… maybe because they don’t know how to mix Hanukkah, Kwanza and Christmas and don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. To me it is kinda weird because there is a strong Hispanic presence there and I expect the Hispanic culture to decorate like the dickens. I always enjoy visitin
g Mi Tierra in San Antonio for the holiday decorations that are up all year round. And, at this time of the year, I miss anticipating Christmas eve, when the family would pile in the car and drive over to Cumberland Circle (El Paso) to inch around, bumper to bumper, without our lights on, surrounded by luminarias along the sidewalks, porches, and rooftops of all the houses in the neighborhood.I think that El Milagro ought to express the Catholic / Hispanic culture’s love of the Christmas season by hanging holiday decorations all over the place without worry or concern. When the complainers complain, there will be plenty of time for apologies and nods to the restrictions of political correctness. I can visualize the place with garlands of shiny metallic greens and gold’s hanging from TV to TV; large red and silver Christmas balls hanging from the ceiling with opened up paperclips; multi-colored strings of Christmas lights around the supply islands; and plastic frescoes of Santa Claus taped to the walls beside the “on stage” signs.
Gladys smoothly cannulated me today and I spent most of my session listening to KUT on Shayna’s little radio and drifting in and out of a long winter nap. At some point I awoke to find two boxes on my chair-table and, looking around, noticed that everyone had these two boxes at their chairs. Staff explained that these are DaVita’s gifts for us patients. That’s sweet… the people that we pay $74 K a year (through our insurance) are giving us gifts. I got a “DaVita” embroidered pair of navy blue mittens, a pair of slick wrap-around Gap sunglasses, and a $10 gift certificate to Applebee’s!
So, the holidays continue. Tonight is the seventh night of Hanukkah. Our gift giving is drawing to a close before the Christmas people have even started. Of course, I still have lots of Holiday chores to do: making cookies; getting out our holiday cards; sending a package to Johnny in Hawaii, etc. I started my annual holiday vacation today so I should have plenty of time to put towards these tasks. YEAH Vacation! Tomorrow Shayna and Lizzie will be off too and we’ll all have a jolly time for the next few weeks.
Notes: In at 74.3 and out at 72 Kgs.
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