It had been years –decades — since Charlie Brown had seen many of his childhood friends.

Every year, he would write a quick note in their Christmas card and send it to them without thinking too much about it. For some reason, this year was different.

Suddenly, it seemed, the years had flown by without his noticing and this year he felt the passing of a friend and of time. This year had to be noticed and embraced.

What were Peppermint Patty and Pig Pen doing now? Did Schroeder continue his passionate piano playing? He wondered if Linus still carried a blanket of some sort. Did Lucy become a psychiatrist?

He knew where his sister Sally was and what she was doing. He knew where Snoopy was and that was the cause of his feeling something different this year.

During their brief time together, Charlie Brown and his friends had formed bonds forged in the fires of anger, affection, common experiences, narratives and most of all, love and loyalty. Many of those bonds made him who he was today — a somewhat innocent and a deeply caring person. He owed his friends more than just a card with a quick note in it.

He knew some of his friends had completed their college education, some had gone right into the work force and some had used a technical school to prepare themselves for life. He was quite sure they were all in a relationship because their return holiday cards indicated that situation.

In other words, they were now all young adults finding their ways through the mazes and the hazes of real life. The one thing that remained the same was that they always stayed in contact with each other. But it had been many years since they had seen each other.

However, this year was different. Yes, time flies but there are moments when as it flies, it stops you in your tracks. This past year had done that to him and he made up his mind to do something different. He committed himself to countering the quick passage of time and to do so with a gift.

Charlie Brown enjoyed a glass of Redbreast 12-year-old Irish Whiskey and, as he poured himself a splash of it, he thought about the idea of a gift for them.

The gift he was thinking about was one for himself and, hopefully (remember, this is Charlie Brown we are talking about and he still has a bit of an insecurity complex!), a gift all of his friends would embrace. He would visit each of his old friends this holiday season and bring them a gift of a beverage. Ah, but what kind of beverage would each of them like to drink today? He began to imagine.

His sister, Sally, always reminded him of a bottle of wine from Glacial Ridge Winery. It was a bottle of La Crescent named Sippin From A Slipper. It has a nice pear and citrus taste and aroma and is a sweet white wine that is lovable but with a bit of an edge. Just like his sister — lovable with an edge!

Dear old friend, Linus. What kind of blanket are you carrying today? He was always a believer and, as Charlie Brown thought back to that day at the Christmas program practice, a gifted story teller. He was true like Foxhole Brewhouse’s Foxme IPA. Linus was always noticeable just like the exciting hop notes in this IPA with its earthy and obvious citrus flavors. The soothing copper color of the brew was like Linus telling a soothing story.

Schroeder brought to mind a bottle of Simply Naked unoaked Chardonnay. Like Schroeder was dedicated to purity, this wine is a pure example of a basic and tasty Chardonnay — full of green apple and melon tastes. Both are committed to being focused and fierce in their determinations to satisfy their friends and both always succeeded in that commitment.

Pig Pen, are you still as dirty as you were as a kid? Yet, as dirty as you were, you were always so nice and polite — to the point of being very sweet to everyone. A bottle of Winehaven Winery & Vineyard’s Stinger Honeywine Mead came to mind. Why? Because it’s a lot of dirty, hard work to get that honey from the beehives and make the wine but, the result is award winning. Just like Pig Pen.

And, then there’s Lucy. A big pain in the rear sometimes but she always seemed to be trying to help in weird ways. She was strong and sassy just like Hinterland Vineyard’s Marquette Reserve. By now, Lucy may have aged a bit and mellowed — just like this wine is barrel aged and becomes mellower. Charlie Brown hoped she hadn’t changed too much — she wouldn’t be Lucy if that happened!

Looking across the room at an empty dog dish, Charlie Brown raised his glass of Redbreast Irish Whiskey to the memory of his dear, dear friend. He wondered if Snoopy was still fighting as the World War One flying ace and if he had finally found comfort in his new doghouse in the sky. The difference this year was the absence of Snoopy.

CB must see his old friends and he immediately began making plans to do so before too much more time flew by him. It was necessary to make those visits because he saw some of himself in everyone of them.

Yes, we all are Charlie Brown. I wish it were possible to share a glass of wine with each of you but that’s not realistic. So, let me simply and sincerely give each of you this wish:

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Cheers!