| Christmas
Card from Mom

Dear Darling Son and That Person You Married,
Merry Christmas to you, and please don't worry. I'm just
fine considering I can't breathe or eat. The important thing
is that you have a nice holiday, thousands of miles away
from your ailing mother. I've sent along my last ten dollars
in this card, which I hope you'll spend on my grandchildren.
God knows their mother never buys them anything nice. They
look so thin in their pictures, poor babies.
Thank you so much for the Christmas flowers, dear boy. I
put them in the freezer so they'll stay fresh for my grave.
Which reminds me -- we buried Grandma last week. I know
she died years ago, but I got to yearning for a good funeral
so Aunt Viola and I dug her up and had the services all
over again. I would have invited you, but I know that woman
you live with would have never let you come. I bet she's
never even watched that videotape of my hemorrhoid surgery,
has she?
Well son, it's time for me to crawl off to bed now. I lost
my cane beating off muggers last week, but don't you worry
about me. I'm also getting used to the cold since they turned
my heat off and am grateful because the frost on my bed
numbs the constant pain. Now don't you even think about
sending any more money, because I know you need it for those
expensive family vacations you take every year. Give my
love to my darling grandbabies and my regards to whatever-her-
name-is -- the one with the black roots who stole you screaming
from my bosom.
Merry Christmas.
Love, Mom

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