TO: FELLOW AND FUTURE MEMBERS

DECEMBER 1, 2021

The first few paragraphs of this report are a reprint of past articles.  I tried writing new words for this end of the year report, however, my thoughts kept returning to these five paragraphs.  

However, this year I would like to add a couple of new paragraphs.  We started the year 2020 with the beginnings of a terrible epidemic that would envelop the whole world.  The Coronavirus spread exponentially encircling the whole world.  As of November 9, 2021, 5,076,531 people have died so far from the Coronavirus outbreak.

Data compiled and analyzed by Worldometer and provided by:

National Health Commission (NHC) of the People’s Republic of China

Health Commission of Hubei Province, China

        The number of people that died due to the Coronavirus epidemic is 5,076,531 as of November 9, 2021.   It’s an immensely large number, however, putting the numbers in perspective to the people that died during the second world war are more than staggering.  75 million people died in the second world war.  Russia itself lost a total of 16,825,000 and China lost a staggering 20,000,000.

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All of us, that are still alive, let’s pause and thank our almighty god for getting us through this pandemonic so far.  Now let’s get to something nicer to talk about.

I would like to take this opportunity to take this last part of the year to wish all of our active Police Officers, Fire Fighters, First Responders and all our retired brethren a very merry and joyous Christmas and a happy and safe New Year.  Again, as in past years, let’s all take pause and thank our God for all the blessings He has given us in the past and for the blessings He will provide us in the future.

We should all take advantage of this time of year to reunite with old friends and neighbors.  Visit and enjoy your family, reminisce and continue to savor the many joyful years long past. Don’t forget about the homeless, the hungry and the forgotten.  

This last month of the year is a time of joy, forgiveness, benevolence and good will. Let’s all take this opportunity to come together and work towards giving our families and friends joy and friendship for all our future years that we may be together. 

We all know that Christmas and New Year is a time to celebrate.  We tend to throw all caution to the wind and over indulge with food and alcoholic drinks.  Please watch what, and how much, you eat. Don’t drive if you over indulge with alcoholic beverages.  We want all our members and loved ones to be with us this coming year.

We as retirees have been blessed with good pensions and health benefits for the rest of our lives.  We have the time to exercise our bodies and enjoy our families, and especially our grand kids.  I often think to myself when I’m a little bit on the down side, a phrase that I sometimes quietly murmur; “if this is bad living, give me more of it.”

Remember to open the packet that the Health Fund sent you through the mail.  If any change is necessary, correct the information; sign the claims form and send it to the Health Fund with the envelope that is included in the packet.   Remember if your claims form is not archived in the Health Fund’s files your medical bills will not be paid. 

Remember that we’re coming to the end of the year.  This is the time to make resolutions on what we are going to do during the year 2022.  Some of us are going to have to catch up with the resolutions we left undone in 2021.   Let’s really make an effort to make resolutions in 2022 and keep them as we promised.  As we make resolutions in 2022 file them in your memory department; this way you won’t have to catch up with the resolutions you made in 2021.      

  Henry Trevino

 WE TEND TO FORGET THAT HAPPINESS DOESN’T COME AS A RESULT OF GETTING SOMETHING WE DON’T HAVE, BUT RATHER OF RECOGNIZING AND APPRECIATING WHAT WE DO HAVE.
(Frederick Koenig)

Moral of the story: Is it human nature that does not allow mankind to appreciate what one has?  Should we be happy with the possessions that we now have or should we keep striving for more?  There is a thin line between appreciating what we have and the desire and ambition of wanting more.  Mankind survives by looking to the future and wanting more and better things.  Can this be a sin or is it a God given right to look at tomorrow and wanting more? 

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