HAPPY DECEMBER 26

Happy Day after Christmas; like Christmas it’s a day filled with merriment and laughter

But one that has the marked disadvantage of arriving on the day after.

December 26 is one of those unlucky days that tries to be brave and save face

For it knows it could have been a holiday but had to settle for second place.

Yes, I’m afraid December 26 in history is fated to remain somewhat unreckoned.

Doomed to stand in relative obscurity with it’s neighbor January 2nd.

Today I celebrate all those days who because of their calendarial lateness

Are destined to travel down the path of history...one day away from greatness.

Do you know the name of the first man on the moon? Of course, everybody does.

But do you remember the second, Ed Aldrin, known to his family as Buzz.

We remember Edmund Hillary, the first to scale Mt. Everest one cold and fateful day

But who remembers, Tenzing Norgay, the sherpa who accompanied him on his way?

Mt. Everest it’s the tallest mountain in the world but the second is almost as high

Yet K-2 is only an afterthought, kind of like the 5th of July.

Ivana Trump was Donald’s first wife; the second is now rarely seen

Because Marla Maples is as popular as, you guessed it, February 15.

We remember Snow White as the first movie Disney brought to the silver screen

The second, Pinocchio must take it’s place next to the innocuous March 18.

Everyone knows Amelia Earhart, her story is one of courage and devotion

She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

The second was Geraldine Mock, at her even more accolades were hurled

For she kept going after crossing the Atlantic, and flew all the way around the world.

Isn’t it funny how life works, for none of could have foreseen 

That Geraldine would be a footnote in history like the day after Halloween.

But such is the way the calendar unfolds, be it September, October or December

Some days, like people are destined for greatness while others we hardly remember.

I think it’s time we change all that and give these days and people their due.

For I believe second places and days after deserve a home in our hearts and minds too.

So hold your chin up December 26th, you have nothing to lament or to fear

After all you could be February 29th and show up but once in every four years!