“I was in the hospital four days this year because I punctured a lung skiing in Colorado. A snowboarder cut me off. It was worth it because my number two son stayed with me in the hospital and it was time together that we wouldn’t have had. I started snow skiing in the Alps. No one taught me how to do it. I got to the top of the hill and down I went yelling, ‘Attention. Attention. I am out of control and don’t know what I am doing.’ I have been skiing ever since. Before that, I grew up water skiing on Dog River and did ski jumps. My family has a cottage a Mullet Point. It was known as Dorgan Zoo because we had 10 kids and were next door to the McAleers who had six or seven kids. It was all open in those days. We could hear each other laughing at dinner because both families did a lot of laughing. There was a pecking order in our family. I am the oldest and sat at my father’s right hand and was the first to get the food.  In a previous life, I raced sailboats intensely. I love life. Life is an adventure. I have been Santa for the last eight years. Thousands of kids have sat on my knee and I have tried to give them cheer and happiness, but the folly of that is cheer and happiness are internal. I was Santa in a nursing home yesterday. I am 77 and some were younger than me. They weren’t happy and it took so much energy to connect. I try to make everyone comfortable and let them know they are cared for. I will put the suit on one more time before it is stitched up and cleaned and put in the closet. It is seasoned like me. I also visit hospice patients. I want to become as accepting as I can of death. What is purpose? What is priority. Our lives are frittered away by details. My priority is to know, love and serve God.  I do those to you, my family and the world. We are good about our physical being, but we don’t take the time to nourish our souls on our regular basis. We need social connection for mental health. I like people because I like me. If I don’t have it in here, I can’t give it to you. I give my presence. We are connected and it is all about soul. We need to stop our monkey minds every day and breath and focus on what is important and have an attitude of gratitude. Life is deep and rich and good and given to us out of unconditional love. God is love. End of story.”