The Daily News

1  Thanksgiving, 1:09 a.m. I got this text:

James Earlvin Neal Ponticelli

born on 11/26/15

at 12:09am. 20.5

inches, 8lbs, 10

ounces.

A quick exchange followed:

Me: 

 Guy's big! Love it man! Huge congrats!!!!!!!

Ponch:

Thanks. Missed my birthday, but arrived for Jozlynn's

Ponch:

Middle name is Elwin Neal

Me:  

Thx for the text!

Get rest, and looks like a Thanksgiving

gift. Happy Birthday, Jozlynne!

Me:

I'll sign off. Ur

prolly getting all

sorts of texts!

Excited for you

man. Love you

guys! = )

<For the record, the emoticon was a simple yellow-head with a huge smile, not the cheap imitation, above.>

2  I knew that they had been in the hospital for a day or three, so I kept staying up late, awaiting the news. I had already written today's DN, which was all about Black Friday, and the history of the REAL Thanksgiving. 

3  Well researched piece, pretty dark, but stuff that was real. I assumed we would get all sorts of stuff on social media about people ditching out on Thanksgiving and hitting the stores early.

4  <basketball buzzer> I woke up last night a little past midnight after dozing at around 10, watched Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in Adam's Rib, and finally hopped on Facebook to see if Ponch had announced the birth of James Elwin Neal Ponticelli.

5  The first thing I saw was the announcement, which lit up the night.

6  This was followed by tons of Thanksgiving pictures of families, children, food, celebrations, and sincere comments about what people are thankful for. 

7  I have two Facebooks, one for family and friends, the other for school, alumni, friends, colleagues, etc. Once I retired, a lot of those merged, sort of the way you might set your own Thanksgiving plate with potatoes, gravy, string beans, salad, turkey, cranberries, and stuffing, but right when you have finished your first round, all your flavors merge into a mushy food art. 

8  You can always count on me for ridiculous analogies. Where were we? Oh yeah, two websites.

9   Last night, after skimming both websites, I delighted in seeing the same stuff: thoughts of love, babies, grandparents, food, drinks, and celebrations.

10  I didn't see one post that said, "In the parking lot of Wal-Mart, waiting for them to open release the hounds!"

11  Instead I saw people doing Turkey Trots, or helping feed the hungry. 

12  Couldn't help being proud. 

13  I had hinted about a secret, and the birth of James Elwin Neal Ponticelli was that secret. Tough one to keep, but glad I did.

14  Have I other secrets to share?

15  Maybe.

16  Everybody tells me secrets all the time. Always have. I'm reasonably good at keeping them, although I've slipped now and again. 

17  After experiencing all that, I pulled out my piece on Black Friday and shelved it. 

18  It's factual, but it's sort of like bringing in the JFK assassination the day after Christmas. Not the proper time. Not today.

19  Not this weekend. Possibly not 'til March. Who knows? It remains in the can for now. There's too much spirited joy in the air.

20  Thanksgiving. New meanings.

21  Last night was really fun, getting it all together. The babies relaxed; I was assigned Isla for a while. I pulled her basket next to me and gave her a bottle. 

22  After around twenty minutes, I moved the bottle away, and gave her my pinky.

23  She grabbed it tightly. We've been doing that for a couple weeks. It keeps me from over-feeding, and keeps her relaxed.

24  She had both hands up, as though she had just signaled "Touchdown!" and grabbed my left pinky with her left hand. 

25  Babies. I gotta tellya. Cute you to death. 

26  Maren stayed calm as well, only cooed around and chuckled every now and again. This made the entire evening run beautifully, lots of calm, lots of laughs, lots of what was happening in lots of other houses.

27  'Murica.

28  Lovely times. 

29  I don't think it is just me. 

30  I think it is tons of people realizing how precious life is, and just how good things are right now.

31  I realize that not everyone is experiencing this, but everyone should know that they are important, and that they mean something. Life is too short to think otherwise. 

32  I won't go on, just feeling wonderful right now, and grateful for all the family and friends who shared yesterday.

33  Moving On, Part One: It's 4 a.m. I've been awake since a little past twelve. 

34  Three ghosts knocked at my door but I refused to let them in.

35  My time of day. 

36  I just looked at the clock. It's 3:58, not 4.

37   M'bad.

38   I did a double take, because right next to the clock, we've a small metal piece of wall-art. It is square, and has a thin tree climbing horizontally from the lower left to the upper right-hand corner. It has leaves. Coming down from the top left corner it says, "Enjoy the little things in life."

39  I smiled. 

40  It is now 4:a.m. On the dot. Now it's not.

41  Life travels that swiftly.

42  When I was writing "Enjoy the little things in life," the "Enj" jumped up and interrupted some other sentence. I tried to correct it, pushed the wrong button, and somehow my download screen appeared, complete with tons of pics I use when I write this. It was right out of Pixar.

43  I pushed my favorite key. Esc.

44  My computer goes wonky every time I do this. What should take minutes takes hours sometimes.

45  Right now I'm thinking of other things. I don't care. That's a nice thing, not to care once in a while, don't you think?

46  I think I'm going to get some sleep, and enjoy the 

remainder of the weekend. 

47  I want to thank my family for doing such a nice job yesterday; everything rocked. 

48  I hear a train whistle in the distance. 

49  Must be the 4:07.

50  I'm gonna go now.

51  Enjoy your day, and as I said, enjoy the remainder of the weekend. 

52  See you again.

53  Peace.

~H~

fin.