Every time I went to the mailbox I hoped I would find one…one of those cool holiday cards with photos of friends and families afar wishing me a wonderful holiday season.

I opened them up with glee like presents, and smiled at the faces staring back at me from the cards. I posted them on the kitchen wall and vowed to reconnect with those faces each time I passed by. In fact, now long after the holidays have passed, the cards are still displayed. I just can’t bring myself to throw them away.

I went to visit dead people last weekend.

It was a journey I knew I would eventually take; yet one for which I was in no hurry.

My mom died in 1996; my dad in 2002. They are buried in my hometown of Vallejo, California, next to the closest person I had to a grandpa.

They call Vallejo the “gateway to the Napa Valley.” This term has always struck me as accurate, since Vallejo’s only claim to fame is quite appropriately the gateway to somewhere else.

It's not every day that we are the featured interview in such a great online publication. So I gotta brag a bit.

Isn't that what DDCC does for companies every day...help them communicate with public relations campaigns, stand out collateral, social media, websites, distinctive branding, sharp presentations and employee/customer publications?

That one house on your street…you know the one. It’s overgrown with dry weeds, its paint is chipping and the roof is missing a tile or 20. It brings down the value of every house on the block…including yours.