The holiday season signifies many diverse things to different people today.
To the youngsters, it may be about Santa and exchanging presents with family and friends.
For your neighbors, it could be about Midnight Mass and worshiping their preferred Messiah.
To you personally, hopefully it is about joy, love, peace, harmony and exciting anticipations.
The Holiday spirit is YOUR spirit. The fun and merriment of this particular time of year originate from inside you. The Christmas star and brilliant lights glimmer from your heart and soul.
So with that, I and – our Saigon Kids family – wish you a fantastically happy and cheerful Yuletide.
The year of 2010 has not been an easy year for many of us, so I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it wonderful despite sometimes challenging circumstances.
Obviously, everybody knows that challenging times make us stronger, and deserve our appreciation for the chance to learn, grow and develop. But at times it’s very easy to lose sight of the fact when we are in the middle of it all.
And I want to ask you to join me to make next year a much better year, in which we will all raise above socio-economic circumstances if we decide to.
To pass on some holiday delight, I wish to share a “new classic” Yuletide song by The Florin Street Band , led by Leigh Hagerwood, who had a desire to make a heart-warming song that would capture the real spirit of Christmas.
When record companies weren’t interested, Hagerwood took the rebel approach I like a great deal and made it himself (with a little help from his good friends).
The recording is set in the simple, traditional Victorian era, and it has echoes of Dickens along with other traditional childhood Christmas time memories… together with a small amount of the Cheers theme song (in my modest thoughts).
Take pleasure in viewing it with your family or good friends, and share this blog posting to pass on the Holiday cheer even more.
*Best viewed in Full Screen mode*
Happy Holidays!
Rock Onnn … Saigon Kids
Bob
Thanks for the beautiful song. Things have been a little rough around. My wife’s illness seems to becoming more manic and more often. Yesterday, our dog Shammie and I spent Christmas together. Xmas eve, I went and got “Chinese-Take-Out” knowing that it would be enough for Xmas Eve and Xmas Day. On the way home I loudly sang “The Christmas Story” song…Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra!! Shammie looked at me as if I were nuts! Bob, the song you sent was a gift for me. I really do like this time of year. Frank
Frank – Glad to hear you enjoyed the songs and they brought you a little holiday cheer – 🙂
Wishing you all the best. You and your wife are in my prayers.
Bob
Thank you for sharing the video from the Florin Street band. I am forwarding it to every one I know…it should have been a hit this year, but we will help to make it so next year! This is the type of song that warms your heart and should be passed along. When times seem dark, the memories of my childhood Christmases light my spirit…they were always wonderful seasons of joy at our home…not full of technology or overflowing bank accounts, but still the best in so many ways.
May our New Year be a better one for each of us.
Suellen
You may not have noticed that before I wrote the above comment on Sunday, December 26th, I’d consumed 5 scotch drinks. The only redeeming grace was that the scotch was 18 years old.
My wife was diagnosed about five years ago of being Bipolar. The first instance of a problem actually happened when we were visiting Boston. I was totally taken back, for I had no idea what was happening. I did get her back to Arizona, although I was almost arrested on the Boston Transit System when she started yelling at me and accusing me of abuse. I had two escorts all the way to where you get the bus to Logan Airport. At the time I kept thinking of the Kingston Trio song…M.T,A in order to keep me focused, but I was so confused ….. And a lot more happened before we arrived in Tucson, but we made it and my gets were waiting and took over. Since then it has been up and down.
Mental illness is one of those things we, as a society, do not want to address. Believe me, I’m way past the embarrassment. I’m sure other Saigon Kids have dealt with their own heart wrenching ordeals with these kinds of issues. IF you have thoughts on how to deal with these things let me know through my personal email address. There is so little information on how to make it work (most of it is just so much philosophical B.S … I’m a “nuts and bolts” type person).. Many of the Saigon Kids know my wife and know that she is about the most gentle, sweet person there is. When she goes over the edge, she certainly rejects my help (I become a “monster”, to use her term) and is now starting to reject her own kids. Until we get help it is “touch and go” just to keep her off the streets. I look at homeless people much differently now. The system is so weird and I think broke.
Well enough of this. I hope she can be home in a couple … to a few weeks.
I am sorry if I bothered folks with my above comment on Sunday and especially because it was right after Christmas. I was a little smashed and feeling sorry for myself, which is normally not my nature. Well, at least feeling sorry for myself! HeHe! Believe me, however, that I really liked the song. I played it several times.
Now on a lighter note…
My biggest concern this week is the Alamo Bowl…. OSU against U of A.! Who do I root for? My oldest daughter graduated from OSU (and my grand-daughters’ father (daughters Ex) played for OSU) and my son graduated from U of A. ……. I’ll tell you a secret. ….. I’m rooting for OSU. After all, it was my daughter who gave me the 18-year-old scotch. Happy New Year,All!
By the way, it was about 70 degrees here today! Frank
Frank – Some quick thoughts off the top of my head after reading your comments:
1. You and your wife are in my thoughts and prayers. I’ve had several good friends over the years who went through what you and your wife are experiencing – so I understand what you are going through, etc.
2. There is NO NEED for you to apologize for the comments you posted here. After all the reason I started this blog in the first place was to give us all a place to stay connected and to *SHARE* memories and experiences – past, *PRESENT* and future – be they the good times, difficult times or the in between times … AND, to be there for each other during the *tough times* giving support and assistance in any way we can to each other … as well as, to celebrate the joys in our lives.
3. You are correct in saying “the system is …. broke”. In America we do not have *health care*, we only have *sick care* – sad but true. True health care deals with and focuses on keeping people healthy and well, so they never get sick or ill in the first place. Sick Care which is practiced in America (under the misleading name of – health care) deals with and focuses on the treatment of people who are already sick or ill. In fact, any *ethical* (and I stress the word ethical) medical professional will be the first to admit all the treatments and surgical procedures are nothing more then a *band-aide* (a stop-gap, temporary patch) that do little, if anything, to address and correct the *root cause* of the condition or illness being treated. The same is true of prescription drugs – few of them, if any, actually *cure* anything – they are just a *band-aide* approach to treating a condition or illness.
4. As to Bipolar (and other so called mental illnesses) the *root cause* of a fast majority are a direct result of chemical in balance of the body’s chemistry. Get the body’s chemistry properly *balanced* (the way it is designed to function) and most of these conditions disappear (this has been documented many times over in numerous studies). Prescription drugs do nothing to *cure* mental/emotional illnesses – they are only a *treatment* used to *tolerate* the condition. In fact, I’ve yet to encounter a mental health care professional who has ever actually cured a patient. Probably because they don’t have any *cures* for psychiatric disorders, only *treatments* – most of which involve prescription drugs. While the drugs may temporarily *control* the condition to some degree (another band-aide) the *side effects* of most of them throws the body chemistry more out of balance … leading to all kinds of other mental, emotional and physical problems. Have you ever read the warning labels (disclosures/disclaimers) for some of these drugs – like taking this medication has been know to cause death, kidney failure, liver failure or contribute to certain kinds of cancers, heart failure, (etc. etc.)
5. Myself and some of my associates, joint venture partners and researchers are in the process of assembling a series about health and wellness – addressing what we each can do as individuals to get healthy, and stay healthy and well; thereby, reducing and limiting the need for *band-aide* type prescription drug and/or medical procedure treatments. Since it appears many of our Saigon Kids’ and/or their family members have or are experiencing various health challenges I’ll probably be posting, on this blog, portions of the series I think might be of common interest and beneficial to many of us.
And, Frank there is an old saying, “behind every great man, there is a greater woman”. Sue, is that great woman behind you! – 🙂 – I know it is challenging at the moment, but *this to shall pass*. Hang in there my friend *tough times never last, but tough people do* – 🙂
Love Ya’, man! Big HUGS …
Bob
PS: All you other Saigon Kids out there *PLEASE* say a little pray for Frank and his wife. Send them some positive *coping* and *healing* energy! – miracles sometimes happen when enough people do – 🙂
PPS: If any of you Saigon Kids happen to be medical or health care professionals, please don’t get offended by some of my remarks if you disagree with them. Just look at it as we have different view and opinions about some things. And, keep in mind, I’m a Clod, a rebel, and a free spirited contrarian – I wouldn’t be *ME* if I didn’t create controversy – LOL – 🙂 🙂 🙂
My wife is very important to the “SaigonKids” legacy. In 1996 my wife and I went to her high school reunion in Conrad, Montana. (Listen to Merle Haggard song “Take This Job”) and realize this is where the middle of Montana exists. On the way home I told her that I wish I knew where my old friends were…meaning my junior year in high school was where it was. She told me…so! Look them up and have a reunion. Quit feeling sorry for yourself, make it happen. This started my quest. I found Arlene, who knew where Rick, Steve. Lynn and Larry were … and who was that guy who died of Cancer after he worked at “ground Zero”? I located Bob thru his parents in Hawaii, Bush girls thru their parents, and on and on. My wife started this thing, guys! You can not imagine how she was so persistent in starting the Saigon Kids “thing”. She even decided on what we should call it … the “SaigonKids” became the name because it was more then just us A.C.S. folks that lived there and made it happen. Terry had called it Saigon61, but we changed it after his death.
Frank – I’m sure glad Sue gave you a good shift kick in the *you know what* – lol – cuz if she hadn’t our Saigon Kids family might not exist!!
Bob