This column should come as a surprise!

It's my way of showing you that I'm still alive!

All things considered, I can't blame you for thinking that I'd made that inevitable, one-way trip.

Truth is, that 2012 has been a bad year for me. I lost Betty Boo Lyons, my beloved wife for 40 years, and a month later, my brother, Larry Curtiss.

Before I got a chance to grieve, my family had to do the 911 bit on me and I ended up with an open heart, triple bypass!

Now, I've visited the emergency medical scene many times on the TV and during the years when I was an EMT myself. But, it's different when you're the "bod" -- everyone is so much taller when you're on your back, looking up!

Afterwards, they told me that without the procedure, in a couple of months, I would have been a grieve instead of a griever.

Now that's been said and done, all that remains is that I am able to resume my previous position as an alpha male, grandpa supreme, and a columnist for the newspaper that you read.

To accomplish this requires only that my family and friends read my lips ... and you read my column!

Grandpa Sez': "Yea tho' I have walked in the valley of death, I shall fear no evil ... and my column runneth over!"