There's a lady, who is one of the sweetest ladies I know, but this sweetheart has a mean side. Let me explain. 

 I used to write a small column for the Review here in town. It wasn't anything special, a little humor a little of a lot of other stuff, but I never got a response from any reader, about how I was doing.  That disappointed me, until I realized that Cocatoo's, Macaws and Parakeets don't know how to send email or use a phone. So I sort of drifted away from writing.  I like writing.   

 Fast forward a few years, my wife got diagnosed with cancer, and in 2018 I lost her to Jesus.  Don't get me wrong, he's a good guy, and I know that very well, but it sort of irked me that he needed her more than I did, and I got a tad angry at him.  Not angry enough to discard him, but angry enough to put down on paper what I was feeling, and going through.   

 Recently I had stopped in to the Review, to visit a bit with this sweet lady, and show her some of what I had written.  We talked for a while and she read one of several pieces I had put on paper, and it seemed like I almost made her cry.  That was not my intention.  We talked for a bit more and I headed for home.  When I got home, she had sent me an email asking for my address.  I sent her my address without a second thought. 

 Now here's where the meanness shows up. 

 This sweet lady got in touch with a bunch of her friends and contacts, and had them meet with her.  One at a time she tied them up and stuffed her spare room full of these wonderful people and forced them to write out Christmas cards and send them to me. I think this lady thought I was lonely.  I'm alone, yes.  But, I'm not lonely, how could I be lonely with a beautiful dog, that loves me unconditionally, the people in my neighborhood always have a smile for me, and this sweet/mean lady thinking of me?

So to all you generous people that sent me Christmas cards, I thank you from deep in my heart, it really does warm the soul.   And as for the mean lady?  She wasn't really mean, she's just a very caring and good person. And she can now untie all those wonderful people and let them go home and have the Merriest of Christmas's ever. 

 Oh for those of you that haven't figured out who this sweet lady is.  She the boss of the Smithville Review and she hides behind the name of Angie Meadows. And I think the world of her.

 Richard Arveaus

aka The Old Guy, Who used to muse.

Smithville, TN