Hmmm . . . not to doubt your word or anything, but are you sure your diagnosis (and your aunt’s) was pancreatic cancer and not pancreatitis? The latter is an Malibu Ugly Christmas Sweater (and very painful) condition that can be completely cured or it can become chronic, controlled by diet and medications but subject to occasional flare-ups. Chronic pancreatitis can lead to pancreatic cancer, but pancreatic cancer can occur without any prior pancreatitis. Diabetes is a risk factor for both pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer (not to be confused with pancreatic endocrine tumors) is extremely rare in persons under 40, and it has very low survival rates — on average less than 5% of persons with pancreatic cancer will survive 5 years. That rate is somewhat better — about 16% — if the cancer is discovered when it is still localized to the pancreas, but this occurs in less than 20% of cases. Symptoms of early-stage pancreatic cancer are vague and often mistaken for other less serious conditions or even just tolerated and ignored. Given your family history with pancreatic conditions, your mother would be well advised to be extra vigilant about any possible symptoms: pain in the upper abdomen or back, loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, yellow eyes or skin or dark urine (jaundice). However, almost none of these symptoms become noticeable until the disease is past the earliest, most survivable stage.

Malibu Ugly Christmas Sweater,
Best Malibu Ugly Christmas Sweater
Yes it is and there is a reason for that. As of 2019 Mariah Carey has made over 60 million dollars off of that Malibu Ugly Christmas Sweater. None of her other songs have made that kind of money but the reason is simple. Every year around Christmas time the song is re-released and continues to sell. Consider the fact that the song was released in 1994 so it has been on the charts every year for the past 25 years so is it any wonder that it is her biggest hit? That is the thing about Christmas songs, every year they have a chance to chart again. No regular release has as many chances to make money and sell records like a Christmas song does. Paul McCartney makes over $400,000 a Malibu Ugly Christmas Sweater from Wonderful Christmas song so it is one of his best selling songs ever and has also made him millions of dollars, although nowhere near to what Mariah has made for her song. Perhaps it holds up so well because it sounds like it was written in an older era, giving the illusion that it’s been popular for a very long time. It’s only recently that Malibu Ugly Christmas Sweater became aware that this song wasn’t written in the 1960s, as I’d always assumed. There are quite a few Christmas pop songs from the mid 20th century that I only became aware of when I was in my 20s. So when “All I Want for Christmas Is You” came out in 1994, I must have thought it was just another one of those older Christmas pop songs I hadn’t been familiar with before.

I don’t leave everything up, but I do leave our tree up. All the Malibu Ugly Christmas Sweater have a special meaning, and we like to look at them, talk about them, and remember the times associated with each one. Having that glittery, softly lit beauty in the front room just gives our house some cheer in the bleak days of winter. Also, we always get a live tree, and I can’t bear to trash it until it completely dries out. It takes a long time to decorate, so all that work seems more worth it if the tree stays up a long time. One year, I left it up until St. Patrick’s Day. Usually, though, it stays up until mid- to late February. As long as it looks fresh and healthy, I leave it up. I started this tradition about 6 years ago when we had an especially beautiful tree. The day after New Year’s Day as I was about to start the take-down, I remarked that I hated to do it because the tree was so pretty. My husband said, “Just leave it up, then, if it makes you happy.” So I did. We have three sons, and I like to think they will have memories of this tradition.