Happy Christmas Eve!
Happy Hanukkah!
Happy Holidays!
It’s that time of year again when families gather to celebrate the season. I know that family gatherings often come with pressures and sometimes even conflict. But that doesn’t make them less family. In fact, I think a lot of film and television versions of the dysfunction of family gatherings during the holidays overstates the issue and can lead us to overstate it for ourselves.
Some of us will sit down at tables tomorrow where there will be an empty chair that wasn’t there last year. Family. Some who are serving in far away places will be unable to be with their families this year and they will miss and be missed. Family. Some will plan to be with each other and find themselves stranded in an airport somewhere and have to make the best of it with everyone else who is stranded. Family. Many will gather and feast and talk and thumb through photo albums and remember their lives together. Family. For many, maybe even most folks, tomorrow will be a day of great joy and happiness. Family.
This past year IRONMAN’s theme was Ohana, the Hawaiian word for family. I want each person who is coached by Team MPI or even just follows us through this newsletter that you are our Ohana. You are family to us. So tomorrow, no matter where you find yourself, know that you are Team MPI family.