CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

What is that you say?  HO HO HO......
MERRY CHRISTMAS.....

The fat man is getting his deliveries ready.

CHRISTMAS ELF

The Christmas Elf wants to know if you have been good.  I know I have been good.  I have been so good it hurts.  That should mean that my tree will have lots of presents under it...

A CHRISTMAS TALE - 2013

Over the past several days I have watched multiple versions of the movie "A Christmas Carol".  There has been the 1935, the 1953 and the 1990's telling of what has to be the definitive Christmas story, penned by Charles Dickens in 1843.

You may well say that the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future have made quite a few visits.

I know that there are many who wish that the whole business of the holidays would just go away.  They would like nothing better than to wake up and find that they have missed it completely.  There are many known to who feel that the the buying of presents, for people not well liked, the putting up a tree and other decorations starts way too early and the endless din of Christmas music heard the whole day long is more that anyone should have to bear.  BAH HUMBUG.

To be true, the old geezer cannot look back at some Christmas seasons with undiluted pleasure.

My early memories of Christmas date back to the orphanage.  While there was a tree and bright lights and a few outings to mark the season, the whole experience was not entirely well received.  The nuns in charge had a knack for pulling donations out of the pockets of the well to do.  Putting small unwanted children on display was a sure way to tap into the guilt of folks.  The money poured in and presents received for 'the poor children' were locked away to be used as bribes in the future.  To say that Christmas was mean would be to put it mildly.

Then I met John and the true meaning of Christmas revealed itself to me.  How well I remember the first Christmas.  There was an enormous tree in the living room.  I had bought many strings of lights to put on and tree and was feeling in a most festive mood.   John pointed out to me that the lights bought were the sort that one placed on bushes and the such OUTSIDE of the house.  I knew that.  I wanted to make sure that when the tree had been lighted the light coming from the tree would blind you.  What a sight it was and to this day remains one of the special memories of Christmas.

There were many Christmas seasons spent with fond memory.  Christmas celebrated in many different parts of the world.  Christmas in Stockholm was special as were the ones had in Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London.  London, now there was Christmas remembered.  The whole English manner in celebrating the holiday appealed to me.

Hawaii is completely different to manner in which Christmas has been celebrated in the past.  It is hot and the sun shines all day and there is nothing remotely common with the memories of Christmas past connect to it.  There is however the spirit of ALOHA, a spirit that seems to get stronger during the Christmas season and just wraps you in warm blanket of love.  It is also the place John loved most and it is where John rests.

Christmas, for me, is a collection of past memories that fill me with hope and remind me of the love received and the many kindnesses received.  Christmas is a time I remember all of the people met during my walk through life.  People who have become a part of who I am.

Many years ago I received a little article cut from a newspaper.  It was inside a card received and has become a tradition of mine at this time of year.  I would like to keep that tradition going...

I have a list of folks I know all written in a book.
Every year at Christmas I go and take a look.
That is when I realize that these names are a part
Not of the book they are written in but of my heart
Each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime
And in the meeting they have become the "rhythm of the rhyme"
While it sounds fantastic for me to add this claim
I really believe I am composed of each remembered name
While you may not be aware of any special link
Just meeting you has shaped my life more than you can think
Once you have met somebody the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word or friendly face
So never think of my Christmas card is just a mere routine
of names upon a list, forgotten in between
For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you
It is because you are on the list of folks I am indebted to
You are a part of the total of many folks I have met
You happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget
Whether I have known you for many years or few
In some way you have had a part in shaping things I do
Every Christmas I realize anew
The biggest gift that life can give is meeting folks like you.

This time of year I remember so many.  Carol, the lovely lady who sent me the clipping.  Randy and Jack.  Anita, my 'aging hippie' friend who never gave up on her community.  Paul who was my friend and is sorely missed this Christmas.  Roy who allowed the old geezer to get some pretty good deals and will always be remembered as the person who helped me have the best Halloween ever.  Laura who shared so much of herself and has a heart as big as Texas.  Paul who has been a better friend that I deserve and reminds me that caring and sharing are just a natural part of his make-up.  The Big Kahuna who helped this old geezer through a rough patch and allowed me to celebrate his Christmas Eve with his family.  Ron who tries to act so mean most of the year and overcomes his mean nature to put on a Christmas Eve gathering for many folks who would not otherwise has a Christmas.  Ron who spends much of what he has little to give presents to all who come to his gathering.  Alan who pretends to hate Christmas and has more of the true meaning of Christmas in him that any I know.  Angie who married my brother and tries to create a family for him.  James who overlooks the faults of his friend and tries to makes sure that the spirit of Christmas is there for him, even if he does not appreciate.  Rocky who tries to keep the spirit.  The flood of faces and names is endless.  I have been blessed by so many and loved.

Truth be told there are folks not named but still very much a part of my memories this day.  If not today, they have been mentioned in the past and will be very much on my mind as I celebrate Christmas this year.

A special thanks to the dear old friend who sent me the snap of me when I was 24.  It touched me so much that I made sure to place a snap of me as I am today.  Odd how I still do not smile...

Like Scrooge, I will try to keep Christmas in my heart the whole of the year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS MY DEARS AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT...

CHRISTMAS CARD LIST

Robert as Santa - Christmas 2007

I have a list of folks I know all written in a book.
Every year at Christmas I go and take a look.
That is when I realize that these names are a part
Not of the book they are written in but of my heart
Each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime
And in the meeting they have become the "rhythm of the rhyme"
While it sounds fantastic for me to add this claim
I really believe I am composed of each remembered name
While you may not be aware of any special link
Just meeting you has shaped my life more than you can think
Once you have met somebody the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word or friendly face
So never think of my Christmas card is just a mere routine
of names upon a list, forgotten in between
For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you
It is because you are on the list of folks I am indebted to
You are a part of the total of many folks I have met
You happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget
Whether I have known you for many years or few
In some way you have had a part in shaping things I do
Every Christmas I realize anew
The biggest gift that life can give is meeting folks like you.

My dears, the above newspaper clipping was old when it was sent to MOI in a Christmas Card many years ago. It meant so much to MOI that it became a marker in my diary and it is seen almost daily. Some times it is just moved from page to page but at other times MOI reads it again and thinks of all of the lovely folks who have been a part of his life.

Many Christmas's have been enjoyed in the 60 odd years of life.  One of most remembered is last one spent with John, happy we were, even if we knew he would not be round for the next one.  There is a memorable one in Stockholm, and a few special ones in London.  Am very fond of the one spent in Hilo.  Then there is the one in Marysville, the one James and Chandra came into life.  Christmas makes MOI think back on the lovely times had with Paul.

This year, Ron is holding his annual Christmas Eve Party.  Ron ADORES Christmas, and loves to play Santa to all the folks known to.  May well be a Christmas to remember...

Many of you are 'au fait' with MOI sending E-Cards. Not a holiday or special event passes without a little something being sent to the folks who are special. A small number of folks write back and tell that they NEVER open the E-Cards, they are afraid that it will have a 'virus' but that does not stop MOI from sending them. Many know that it is just my way of letting all know they are thought of. MOI receives many as well and loves each and every one received.

A CHRISTMAS STORY 2009

Rhoads Family - Colleen Cummings A-P

Whilst Christmas 2008 is not looked back on with undiluted pleasure, Christmas 2009 is a bright Christmas moment long remembered fondly.

Am re-printing the story of that Christmas, as it appeared in local paper on Christmas morning.  The Rhoads family have gone on to greater things.  James, the father was taught the trade of 'property management' by the old geezer and has gone on to help owners with troubled properties get turned round.  Last checked the family was doing well.

Christmas miracle for family in Linda

December 25, 2009 12:32:50 AM

By Ben van der Meer/Appeal-Democrat

Nearly a year ago, James Rhoads started a business of reselling items from storage units where renters had fallen behind on payments.
People sometimes pleaded with him for items they'd left behind; often, other than for personal items, they were out of luck.
But after the contents of his own storage unit was sold, and his family of six had to sleep at friends' houses or sometimes a 1996 Plymouth Voyager, he's gotten a new perspective.
"Everybody out there, they aren't really that bad of people," said Rhoads, 34, adding he hasn't always felt that way. "There are bad seeds out there, but the majority of them are good."
The reason the out-of-work cement mason has a better outlook these days has to do with what's happened to his family in the last two weeks — going from a Christmas with little hope to what his wife Chandra Rhoads calls the best one she's ever had.
In a modest Linda apartment, the family has furniture, bedding, food and $500 worth of Christmas gifts. All of it donated, including the unit where they live.
The Rhoads' journey started as the economy tanked in the last few years. James Rhoads went from making $4,200 a month and planning to buy a home for his wife and their four children to being out of work so long he can't even take advantage of the unemployment benefit extensions recently approved.
Short of money, the family left a rented home in Linda a few months ago where the electricity had been shut off and a ceiling had collapsed, and headed for Oregon, where they thought a new home awaited them.
When that fell through a month ago, the couple and their four children — Jamie Rhoads, 12; Alex Gomes, 9; Haley Rhoads, 5; and Jimmy Rhoads III, 3 — piled into the van and drove back to Yuba County for what they believed would be a temporary stay at a friend's home.
It was temporary. But for two weeks, as James said he searched for an apartment he could move his family into, he began to fear living in the van would be more permanent.
Because the family had only Aid to Families with Dependent Children for income, they couldn't afford the normal rental requirements for an apartment. And other apartment managers wouldn't take in a family that big for relatively small quarters.
When he approached the managers at Linda Villa Apartments in Linda earlier this month, James Rhoads said he'd decided honesty was the best policy.
"I was discouraged," he said. "So I just put my story out there."
Rob DeFrees, who works with Linda Villa's managers, said Rhoads' story struck a chord.
"I looked him in the eye and thought, 'If ever there was a situation where I should trust my gut, this is the time,'" DeFrees said. He agreed to let the family rent an apartment on a voucher for homeless families.
But after losing the storage unit's contents, the Rhoads had little which with to fill the apartment.
"As far as Christmas, we were kind of thinking we weren't going to have one," said Chandra, 31.
DeFrees wrote a story about the family on his blog, and published it Dec. 13. Doing so proved to be a snowball thrown down the side of a mountain, the result being an avalanche of generosity.
People began sending DeFrees e-mail messages: What can I do?
"I wanted to believe if people had the opportunity to help on a personal level, they would," DeFrees said. "I'm just overwhelmed at it all."
One person who responded was a woman named Bonnie, who thought at least she could bring over blankets and other bedding. Then she saw how little the family had.
She made phone calls, sent e-mails. More offers of help came in. Bonnie, who declined to allow her last name to be published, said she thinks being able to do something small for someone resonated with people.
Many of her fellow parishioners at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church helped, as did the Yuba County Sheriff's Department, Supervisor Andy Vasquez and a furniture store.
Those who contributed had two things in common: They wanted to help, and they didn't want credit.
James Rhoads beamed earlier this week as Alex and Haley zipped around the apartment complex's parking lot on donated bikes.
"I like my beds, and I like my new bike," Alex said, pedaling just behind his parents as they walked. Alex mentioned his brother's birthday was Christmas Eve.
"Then we get a lot of treats," he said, to laughter from James and Chandra.
"I used to think less of people who were bad off," Rhoads said. "Now I think, I've been there."
In exchange for a break on rent, Rhoads has been hired as a maintenance man at the complex, and other part-time jobs will start soon. He's hoping to stay long enough to earn money toward a more permanent place.
The family is also planning its own giving back, starting by taking extra sleeping bags and blankets to the homeless.
When she talks about what's happened, Chandra Rhoads stops in the middle of her sentence.
"It's going to be awesome," she said of today's celebration, her eyes welling with tears.

It may be a small blog, but this old geezer reaches out to many, many kind folks with hearts as big as Texas.  When you ask if you can make a difference, just remember the lesson of this story.  One person has the power to change lives, a small change that leads to bigger changes.

Christmas, it is all about the giving and not the getting......