At last, Santo home for the holidays

(Stolen from my Dad's blog- Thanks Pop- nice Christmas story)

The timing is never good for this sort of thing, but this was just too much, and Ron Santo could have cursed the gods. Two years ago, he spent Christmas in the hospital after losing his right leg to diabetes. Last Christmas, he was back in the hospital again to have the left leg taken.

This past fall, Santo's beloved Cubs finally were headed for that big season Santo has promised himself for more than 40 years, the season that has helped to keep him alive, frankly. And at the most important time, he was told he had bladder cancer. Leave Wrigley Field's playoff dreams now and go home to have your bladder removed? Santo could have cursed the gods.

He survived that surgery, and his vital organs did not shut down, as was possible. But then he developed a staph infection last month. He was back in the hospital, and Christmas was coming again, and ...

And Santo is home today for Christmas. He could be cursing the gods, but he instead is walking without a cane. His wife will be there. So will his daughter and his 4-year-old grandson, Sam Brown, and it's a good bet that Ron will take Sam to the park and push him on the swings.

Merry Christmas Ron, see you next year!