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Merry Christmas from Dallas, TX.
Yes, it’s the day after. I assumed nobody was reading email on Christmas…besides me.
I loved Christmas this year.
I was alone. I was in Dallas. I was working.
There weren’t any distractions other than the occasional DM or text saying Merry Christmas. No calls to jump onto. No zoom meetings to rush to.
Just me and Roxie (my dog) spending the day in the apartment. Working. Resting. Reading.
I get that you may be thinking to yourself, this seems a strange thing to say. But let me fill you in.
Roxie is now 15. Many of you read the article I wrote back in July about why the hell don’t dogs live forever. I talked about the decline I was seeing.
She has been a trooper.
She’s still eating. Still drinking. Still excited and happy to see me.
But she’s falling more. Her pain pills are up to 3x a day. There are other signs too but I’ll spare you those details.
All I wanted for Christmas was one last one with her. I didn’t want to lose her and not spend Christmas this year without her. I knew I wasn’t ready for it.
I know I won’t be ready for it next year but there will be a lot more time between when she moves on from me and that Christmas.
So I willed her to make it to Christmas. Just one more. And she did.
I loved this Christmas because it was just me and her. Nobody else to take my attention. Nobody else who needed anything from me. All my time, energy, and love could go to her. The way it should be since it will be the last.
I picked her up at one point and made her sit on the couch with me. A couch she used to jump up onto all on her own but now can only get there if I pick her up. A couch that once she’s on it, she can’t move around on because her legs can’t navigate the lack of firmness. But nonetheless, we sat there. We watched Home Alone 2 and The Santa Clause.
She smelled of an old dog. She shed white hair all over my clothes.
It was perfect.
Next year won’t be the same.
But at least I got one more with my Rox.
It’s the only gift I wanted.
Now for Three Things
If you want to spend the beginning of the year becoming a better speaker by learning my frameworks for speeches, pitches, storytelling, and casual conversation then join in.
Join the community to get real practice, real feedback, and build real friendships.
The Queen’s Gambit and how to speak strategically (Would appreciate if you subscribe)
A new article on my website. I have actually published 3 this week. I’ve been writing a lot. Feel free to take a look and read some of the other articles too.
Thanks for joining this week. I’ll leave you with this quote.
“He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most valuable secret of negotiation.” Chris Voss
See you next week,
Robbie