Merry Christmas, Guys!

[shugar]

May you and your family feel all the blessings of the season...

it has been a most wonderful year with you guys around... the dives we've shared, the stories we've told, the photos we've taken, the jokes we've laughed over...

it's been a year of good times... the DOR, the birthdays, the trips

it's been a year of achievement... the new OWs, the new AOWs, the new RDs, the new OWSIs

it's been a year of amazing friendship... the backplate boys, the BGs, the photoshop magic

it's been a year of learning and growth... environmental discussions, dive philosophies, deco diving

it's been a year of growing our PPD family... pakman, kim, snowbear, rick muchison... the offshore pinoys ben_ca, greatwolf, midwestdiver, chilipino...

it's been a year of aquiantances... becoming buddies... becoming friends...

it's been a year of things being the same... and things changing... moving to the dark side, diving as i will, maintaining you integrity

It's been one great year for me here with you guys and i just want to mush up the board before we meet up for drinks tonight.

Merry Christmas to my online family and the extended family here.

Jag

 

[paolov]

hahabol daw si prems sa raffle

 

[jonix]

a fun year indeed! merry christmas!

 

[paolov]

MALIGAYANG

PASKO

 

[scubagun]

Maayong Pasko as inyong tanan!



rico

 

[Ubergrlie]

merry christmas to all!

beer! beer! and new gear under the tree!

 

[pilot fish]

Merry Christmas to everyone

 

[lai_rallos]

merry christmas to all! thanks for the fun and friendship online

-lai-

p.s.
busy-busy-han kaya hindi nagpaparamdam

 

[pilot fish]

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
Sleep without fear as you turn out your lights."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of this line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one has asked or begged or implored me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembered."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you some money, prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

 

[Narcd_dvr]

Maayong Pasko ninyung tanan (Merry Christmas to everyone). I hope everybody gets the diving gear they've dream for