December 28, 2018

The Christianville Spirit: Christian's Year-In-Review 2018


The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience
December 28th, 2018-TCS # 620

Well, My Readers, PTLS Family Members, and Friends, It looks like We have come to The End of Another Year here at The Christianville Spirit and What a Year it was. Wow! What a Year! Ya Know, Sometimes, when I choose a Tagline for The Year, I try to stick to a Theme that kinda goes with a The Tagline of The Year. Often Times, in January, I really focus on and By The Times, Mid-Year comes around, I have forgotten about Making Sure that My Newsletters carry a bit of The Theme. This Year, It was not My Newsletters that kept with The Theme, It was My Personal Life This Year. I would be Lying if I said, This Year was Great! Now, Yes, I know Every Year has It’s up and downs. Low Points makes You appreciate The High Points. I will Laugh at Myself where were a Few Years ago, like (Laughing) “Remember when XYZ was happening and I felt This Way!”. So Did This Year, as much it did not turn out like I Planned, fit The Theme? Yes! In Times, A lot of Times actually, We had to Keep Learning. Life without Learning is Boring! Even in The Most Craziest of Times This Year, Yes, We were Hopeful. and, In The Against All Odds Times, Dang Gum It... We were Resilient. This Year’s Tagline by The Way was “The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience” and It was actually Credited to Three People. Funny Thing, These were Most Influential People of This Year. The Tagline is Credited to My Neighbour, Patty (I call her “Miss Patty”) and PTLS Family Members, Sally Morgan and Karen Crane. So, As I explained at The Beginning of The Year when It came to This Year’s Goals. That according to My Friend, Gypsy January that You have to Set Your Goals with Your Heart and That is What I did. Because This Year did not turn out like I planned or Actually, This Year threw me for a Loop, We’ll put it that Way. It was not Possible to Accomplish My Goals. I will explain.
So, Here are My 2018 Heart’s Goals!
  • I know I have Mentioned This Many Years in a Row But, I want True Love. A Revised Version of “Meeting The Woman of My Dreams”. It is somewhat The Same Thing but, Still. I want that Laughing at Something really Mundane kind of Love; Lay Underneath The Christmas Tree together, like Laying on The Grass looking at The Stars, with only The Christmas Lights at Night kind of Love; Singing to Our Favorite Song kind of Love; and, The Kind of Heart that will Love You No Matter what You look like or What You are doing kind of Love (Okay. So, Not This Year. I guess It was not Time. This Year was for Learning)
  • A Goal that is in The Process, Finishing The Laser Hair Removal Treatments! I can’t wait until The Final Zap and I can shout “Mission Accomplished!”(Due to Reasons on both, the Person who does It as well as Myself. We could not do this)
  • This Goal I have talked to Lynee’s Mom, Dona about. I think It is Time to meet Lynee’s Brother. After All, I have already met Lynee’s Sister, Jona; Mom, Dona; and, Dad, John, but have yet to meet Lynee’s Brother. (Wow! This One give Me Chills! I totally forgot about This Goal! Due to Craziness of The Year in Both Families, We could not do This!)
  • This One I feel is Personal, as if All the Others aren’t. Before PTLS Member Relation and Great Friend, Faith passed away I wanted her to teach me to Paddle Board. I know it seems Silly and It is Harder than It looks, I am told. However, I never made it out to North Georgia to Learn how to do it, I probably wanted to do it to Impress Her a Little bit and I knew that It was Her Favorite Thing to do. I would believe that Faith, herself, would still want me to at least try it. (Oh Man! Another Really Good Goal! This One and The Last One I just mentioned will be Moved to Next Year)
  • I do want My Mom and My Brother to find The Love of Their Lives too! And, for My Brother to become successful in What He Loves to Do because My Brother, Michael is worth it and deserves it! And, My Mom, She’s worth it and deserves it too! To My Friend, Scott Lerew, Where’s that Campaign You were going to start?! (Nope, Not This Year. Perhaps, Next Year)
  • And, Finally in The PTLS Front. I have really wanted to make it to Italy. I have waited for a PTLS Family Members to have us there for a Long Time. It is sort of a Dream Trip, just like going to Sweden was. Plus, Why Not?! It gives me an Excuse to See Italy and Some of Our Family’s Heritage. There are Other Parts of The World that I would love to see as well. (Okay. So, This One was partly Done. I was sponsored to Sweden and Spain for a Second Time. I am Very Blessed! But, Did not make it to Italy)

Now, Yes, I know that I may sound Negative when Reflecting about This Year. Now, Just Because Crazy Stuff happened this Year does not mean that Good Things did not come out of It. It may sound Crazy but, Sometimes, The Best Things can come out of Not-So-Great Things. So, with that said, I can not wait until 2019. But, Before 2019 comes and We watch The Ball drop, Let’s Re-Live 2018 via what I call “Christian’s Year-In-Review 2018”, My self-produced Year-In-Review.
So, without Further a due, Let’s get started!

So, like all Years We start in January. So, as You can tell, This Year was Crazy and Therefore, I do have to Share some of The Crazy Things as well as Good Things. From January 14th to January 23rd, We had a Leak of Hot Water underneath The Slab of The House. You could actually feel The Warmth of The Water if You walked in Certain Parts of The House. Good Thing, It was Really Cold so you could feel The Difference. We had The Pipes rerouted and We found Leak and A Repair Guy fixed It. In PTLS News, We did something different with The PTLS Shirt Launch, It was Either the Traditional or Custom “Team PTLSers” Shirts.
Before I start with The News, I try as Hard as I can to avoid any Upsetting Political Stories, but For The Sake of History and My Year-In-Review, I feel I must mention them. If I feel that It may Upset (or Trigger) Someone, I will say, Political Story Alert! So, Let me say this first. Let Me Make it VERY Clear that Us here at The Christianville Spirit and In Integrity of This Newsletter, **The Christianville Spirit is and Forever will be Non-Politically Aligned with any Candidate or Leader.** In the News, On January 13th, There was a False Missile Alert in Hawaii. It sent People in a Panic and It was only a False Alert, Someone tripped the button. Also, On January 27th, Paris’ Seine River flooded.
In February, A Sad Moment, on February 26th, Former Neighbours, Shelagh and Fernando expatted to Merida, Mexico. A Personal Accomplishment was made on February 9th and February 25th respectively, I got up at 5 AM to watch The Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony of The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Live. I find it better to Watch Live without The Commentary or Editing. In The News, There was an Earthquake in Oaxaca, Mexico on February 17th, It was a Really Bad Earthquake from What I remember. Also, Not that I am into Sports but, The Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl 52 for The First Time on February 4th.
Now, March (Marzo) Was a Good Month! Not only was it PTLS Awareness Month. It was a Big Birthday for Grandma Honey, Her 80th and She got to Meet her Great-Grandson, Jace (Honorable Mention: He was born on February 1st) It was actually The 6th Generation that Grandma Honey saw. I also dealt The Slime Craze (Refer to “My Three Biggest Triggers” Newsletter). On March (Marzo) 7th, My Brother made me a Frame of The Original PTLS Shirt. I call it “The PTLS Relic Shirt”. It was intended for Christmas. But, I got it the Day before PTLS Awareness Day! It was Sent at The Perfect Time! In The News, A Pedestrian Bridge collapsed near Florida International University in Miami on March (Marzo) 15th. They did a “Stress Test” during Rush Hour which caused it to Fall. Also, World Famous Physicist, Stephen Hawking passed Away March (Marzo) 13th. 
Now, We come to a Difficult and Crazy Month for Us, April. Literally 2 Weeks after We got Home from Grandma Honey’s 80th Party, She ended up in The Hospital in Mid-April. Therefore, We had to Drive to Atlanta for a Family Emergency. Now, I realize that It could have been Something and It could have been Nothing. I really Thank God that It was Somewhat-Nothing. I Mean, It was not Something Important like Heart, Lungs, You Know, The Important Stuff. No, It was because A Very Low Level of Potassium which in It’s own Crazy Way, is Important. Too Low of It and It can Kill You. Yes, I said that, It can Kill You! So, it goes without saying, No Matter what Your Age, Take your Potassium! And, Don’t be Afraid to Check your Levels every once and while! Now, It would not be My Mom’s Dad (Popi’s) Humor that This Family Emergency would happen on The 10th Anniversary of Popi passing away on April 17th, I referred to it as “Lighthouse Day”. In The News, There was a Shooting at YouTube Headquarters on April 3rd. Political Story Alert! On April 27th, There was Meeting between The Leaders of North and South Korea. Something that has not happened in 50 Years due to The Korean War. The Meeting was to basically End the Korean War, at least in Their Eyes. 
In May, It was the 10th Lynee Remembrance Day (or LRD as I call it) on May 22nd. I really wanted to meet with Lynee’s Mom at that time but, It did not happen. A Sign did show up a Couple Days after with Day Lillys showing up in Our Backyard, near a Tree that My Mom refers to as the “Life Tree”. In Other News, PTLS Family Member, Maggie got married on May 25th. We got to watch it on Facebook Live. In The News, Political Story Alert! There was a Shooting at a High School in Santa Fe, Texas on May 17th. In Positive News though, on May 18th The UK’s Prince Harry married Television Star, Commoner, and an American, Meghan Markle. It really was a Historic Sight to see. It is something that Never has been done before. 
In June, Due to Our Car being on The Verge of Breaking Down in Late June, We took Our Car up to Mr. Jeff to get it fixed, unfortunately There was Too Much to Fix. The Investment of Keeping It (It was named “Trinity”) vs. Buying a New Car, We just decided a get a New Car. It is pretty much the same car but, a Small Version of It. My Mom settled on naming it, MACC Trinity. In The News, Sad News of Chef and TV Host of Several Shows on The Travel Channel as well as One on CNN, Anthony Bourdain passed away on June 8th. Political Story Alert! US President Donald Trump and The Leader of North Korea met in Singapore for a Summit Meeting on June 12th. Something that in Historical Context has not happened in a Very Long Time. A US President meeting with The Leader of North Korea! 
July was One of Those Months of This Year that did not go right at all. After The New Car Mentioned at The End of June, going into July, Our Refrigerator Broke Down therefore causing us to have to get a New One. On Top of That, Towards The End of July, Our Air Conditioning also broke down and We basically had to have The Whole Unit replaced. It is much stronger and bigger now versus Our Old Unit. But, Still, Both events caused Great Stress on Me. Good News though, My Friend, Gypsy January moved to Her Soul Place of Oregon on July 20th. In a Way, It was a Silver Lining to watch her accomplish her Dream. In The News, There was Record-Breaking Heat here in Dallas. Upwards of 11o Degrees F. Thank God that Our A/C did not go out during that time, It went out a Week after. Also, There was a Soccer Team in Thailand that got rescued after being stuck in Cave for 16 Days on July 10th. 
August, In My Crazy Year, was Definitely a Highlight for Me. Over The Week of My 31st Birthday, We were Sponsored (meaning PTLS Family Members invited and paid for us get there) to go to Stockholm, Sweden for a PTLS Business Trip and Conference on The Road. I got to spend My Birthday in Another Country. Although, We were only flying through, We did stop in Iceland, The 8th Country that I have been to. Refer to “My 31st Birthday in Sweden” for More Details. In The News, Legendary Singer, Aretha Franklin passed away on August 16th.That was Sad! She was a Brilliant Singer! Also, A Bridge in Genao, Italia (Italy) collapsed on August 14th. 
September was kind of a Quiet Month with The Exception of an Ice Cream outing with Our Neighbours on September 3rd and The 10th Anniversary of Our Dog, Sophie passing away on September 24th. Something I refer to as “Sophie Memorial Day”. In The News, Hurricane Florence hit The Coast of North Carolina and Portions of South Carolina as a Category 2 on September 14th. It could have been so much worse! They actually projected that It was going to hit as a Category 4 or 5 but, At The Last Minute, It turned to a Category 2, although It caused really bad Flooding along The Coast of North Carolina. Also, In Natural Disasters, There was 7.5 Magnitude Earthquake that hit off The Coast of Indonesia on September 28th. 
October was another Point where I was blessed and honored to be Sponsored to go Spain for The Second Time for Another PTLS Conference on The Road. I referred to it as PTLS En EspaƱa II in Mid-October. Also, In October was My Brother, Michael’s 30th Birthday! My Mom went up to Denver to go see Him. Because it was Right after going to Spain, I stayed Home and Watched The Dogs. It was actually the first time that I watched the dog along with Paco. In The News, Hurricane Michael (Yes, Really!) hit the Panhandle of Florida as a Category 5 Hurricane on October 10th. I know that It was a Serious Event, but, The Storm hit a Couple Weeks before My Brother’s 30th Birthday. Now, Come On, What are coincidences of That?! Also, In The News, Political Story Alert! The United States Supreme Court got another Justice! Justice Brett Kavenaugh. Yes, I know! This will be a Trigger but, In Historical Context, This has to be included.
In November was The First Year that “Christian’s Best Friends’ Festival” had a New Honoree Day. The New Honoree Day was called “McKenna-Faith Day” honoring My PTLS Lil’ Sis, McKenna as well as PTLS Family Relation and Angel Cabinet Member, Faith Thompson. On November 18th, I put My Now-Famous “Overhead Wonderland Project” of Christmas Lights. I figured that with My Crazy Year, that I deserved to get a Little Creative with My Christmas Lights Display. In The News, There was a Shooting at a Bar in Thousand Oak, California on November 7th. Also, There was a 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake in Alaska on November 30th. 
And, Finally We reached The Last Month of The Year, December. Now, I will save you and Not Write about Negative News Events because I feel that You do not deserve that as Your Year Ending. I will tell you that I ended The Year with having some Much Needed Quality Time with My Brother for Christmas. I would be lying if I said that It is not The Same without Him, even though He lives in Colorado and He is only a Phone Call or Skype Call away, It still is not The Same. Plus, My Brother came Home for Christmas which Made My Christmas Brighter. And, To Top that, I joined My Neighbours, Miss Patty and Mr. Marshall and spread Christmas Cheer Caroling to Our Fellow Neighbours! Talk about Christmas Magic right there! All in all, It may have been a Crazy Year, Okay Year, Good Year, or even Great Year. It was Year of Learning and Yes, even Growth. I did Grow This Year, I will admit. It was a Year of Hope and A Year of Resilience. But, I genuinely hope that You, My Readers, had a Good Year and Hope for an Even Better Year Next Year. As My Neighbours will say, It gets Better and Better! And, I can’t wait to see you back here for Another Year of Hopeful, Resilient, and Thought-Provoking, Heart Warming and Inspirational Newsletters to come in 2019!


(For the Last Time in 2018)



Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Be Hopeful and Be Resilient!

December 19, 2018

The Christianville Spirit: Analyzing Christmas Carols-Part 3 (Mini-Series)




The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience
December 19th, 2018-TCS # 619

Well, My Readers, It is that Time of Year, My Favourite Time of Year, Christmas. I know I said that probably Last Week and The Week before, but I mean it Every Time. Christmas is My Most Favourite Time of The Year. Every Year, in The Start of The Month I start to write about December and How Much I Love Christmas, then I get to This Week’s Newsletter, Perhaps One of The Biggest Newsletters in My Schedule, My Annual Christmas Newsletter, and Sometimes I use all the Good Ones up during My other December Joy Newsletters. It is Difficult to come up with a Topic after All of Those Brilliant Topics before. However, This Year, I decided to do something a Little different. Instead, I thought of Doing all Magical Newsletters talking about Christmas over The First Weeks of December leading to My Annual Christmas Newsletter, I decided to do a Mini-Series that will actually lead Right into My Christmas Newsletter, using All the Magic over The Course of The Weeks of December and into My Christmas Newsletter. So, In case You are wondering, that is how I got the Idea for My Mini-Series about Analyzing Christmas Carols. So, Now that We have that covered, Let’s get into The Final Installment of My 3-Part Mini-Series! 

So, without further a due, This is My Christmas Mini-Series, “Analyzing Christmas Carols” so, I realize that There are Many Christmas Songs or actually, known as Christmas Carols out there but, I feel that The Songs that I am analyzing really explain the Best about The Magic of Christmas. So, The Next Song that I am going to Analyze is another Song from The Rosie CD called Santa on The Rooftop by  Trisha Yearwood (along with Rosie). Now, The Way This Song starts is not Traditional. You See, In Music, typically A Song starts Soft before We get into The Band Playing and Body of The Song, But, This one The Band is already in it. It starts the Three Bangs from The Band. Trisha comes in while The Band Intro is picking up Fast. Saying “Ohh Yeah!” One More Bang “mmhhmmm” with Some Christmas Jingles and The Story begins. 
“I was Walking Home on Christmas Eve; The Whole Neighborhood was Fast Asleep (Coming Home rather Late, I would think);” The Snow was falling, Coming down Hard; The Place looked like a Picture Postcard” (Christmas Romanticism at It’s Best. A Perfect Image of What I would Imagine Christmas Eve to look like). The Song Continues. “And, When My House came in to View, I noticed something up on The Roof; You can’t Imagine My Surprise! When I look closer and realized” (I listen to This Song every Christmas and this Part still give me Chills) Going into The Body of The Song. “It was Santa on The Rooftop; and, Our House was Santa’s first Roof Stop; Reindeer were Quiet as a Mouse” (This explains why We don’t hear a Big Thud on The Roof when Santa comes; Santa is Skilled!) “Didn’t Make a Sound; Santa got ready to make his way down”; (We are talking about How Santa gets down the Chimney) “He had one foot in The Chimney; Destination, Our Brand New Christmas Tree” (Sounds like there should be a “Oh Yeah!” here, There is One Later) “I knew Everyone was gonna be Shocked; When I told them, I saw Santa on the Rooftop!” (Can You imagine that Story for a Second?! Santa on the Roof of Your House and You saw it?!!) The Song continues Explaining about The Mother getting Home and Telling Everyone. “I tried to get Home right away; But, I was just a little too late; The Gifts were Laid out under The Tree; But, No Sign of Mr. S.C” (Santa Claus!). Rosie mixes in Now, “I ran over to the Fireplace; But, There was Nothing but An Empty Space” (I’m telling you, Santa has Skills; He can get in and out in 5 Seconds Flat, How He does that is Beyond My Literal Mind! It is Magic) This Part brings me Chills, It is like I can feel the excitement of The Children being awoken to find out that Santa is at Your House. Yes, The Mother said that, Santa. Is. At. YOUR. House! You are not Dreaming! “Got Everybody, Up out of Bed; Their Eyes Open Wide when I said” going to The Body of The Song and then, Adding “I knew Everyone was gonna be Shocked; When I told them, I saw Santa on The Rooftop” Christmasy Jingly Music and then, The Band Banging, “Some People think, The Man’s a Myth; I had My Doubts, I admit; But, How could I criticize When Somebody says with That Look in Their Eyes, It was Santa on The Rooftop!” (If You don’t believe in Santa, This Song will make you believe) Going into The Body of The Song ending with “When I told them I saw Santa on The Rooftop” with The Oh Yeahs finally comings. Repeating The Title of The Song and Then, The Song Ends.
I hope You enjoyed My Christmas Mini-Series. You will look up This Song and Listen to It!
By The Way, I should do an Honorable Mention to those who do not celebrate Christmas. So, To You Hanukkah Celebrators, I wish you the Happiest of 8 Nights of Hanukkah. The Jewish Celebrate that, by the way. You get One Present for 8 Nights as well as Lighting The Menorah and Spinning The Dreidel. Kwanza is a Holiday celebrated in Africa. Happy Kwanza to You also! And, Finally, The Holiday of Yule. They celebrate The Winter Solstice, They are originators of the “Yule Log” and “Yule-Tide Carols”. Happy Yule to You as Well. Just thought that I would mention them all! All in all, I Hope You have An Awesome (Insert Holiday Here) and From The Bottom of My Heart, Have a Merry & Blessed Christmas!




Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah (or Chanukah), Happy Kwanza, and Blessed Yule from The Christianville Spirit! 

December 11, 2018

The Christianville Spirit: Analyzing Christmas Carols-Part 2 (Mini-Series)



The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience
December 11th, 2018-TCS # 618

Spread The Magic, My Readers! Hey! That’s a Different Greeting! Yes, Folks! It is that Time of The Year, My Favourite Time of the Year, Christmas Holiday Season. One of The Reasons is not only The Christmas Lights, Christmas Trees, and Christmas Music. But, Of Course, I am missing one other element. Christmas Cheer, or more on The Lines of Christmas Magic! You know that saying that at Christmas, It seems like Magic is in The Air and Truth be told, It is in The Air and That is The Best Part of Christmas. So, For The Next Christmas Carol that We are going to Analyze deals with My Favourite Feeling of Christmas. Why I Love Christmas so Much! 
So, without Further a Due, This is Part 2 of My Christmas Mini-Series, Analyzing Christmas Carols! So, This is a Less-than-Traditional Song, but For Me, It has been a Tradition for Me. So, Every Year, My Mom puts in this Christmas Music CD to Mark the Beginning of The Christmas Season. It was from a CD called A Rosie Christmas. It was a CD of Rosie O’Donnell and Guest Singers, singing different songs (Not that She is a Rosie Fan). I like The Guest Singers. The Songs that They sing range from The Traditional 12 Days of Christmas to More Unique only to The Rosie CD Songs. The Next Two Parts of My Mini-Series, We will explore Two Unique Songs on This CD. Now, I should note that This Song can also apply to those who don’t celebrate Christmas. 
The Song is called The Magic of Christmas Day by Celine Dion. The Song starts with a Gentle Christmassy Intro. “Deck The Halls with Boughs of Holly; It’s Season to be Jolly; and be Thankful for All that We Have”. (One may think that You can be thankful at Thanksgiving, You can at Christmas Time too!). “All The Lights and Decorations, Put up in Anticipation, Of The Joyful Celebration, that on It’s Way!” (Jumping right into The Intro to The Body of The Song and Into The Body of Song.) “Counting the Days, till It’s Time for Christmas Day!” The Body goes like This; “Oh, and God bless us Everyone!” “The Good and The Bad; The Happy, The Sad” and Repeat The First part again adding “Here’s to family and Friends and It’s good to be Here again!”. Now, If You Want to explain The Magic of Christmas to Someone who may or may not believe, This is a Good Stanza to Read to Them. It’s My Favourite of Christmas. “On The Streets, There’s Children Laughing; People smile as They are passing; Christmas Time is Here, Our Waiting is done!” “Wishing it could last forever” (Don’t we all wish that!) “Not just 12 Days in December” (referring to The 12 Days of Christmas and The Joy of Christmas at It’s Highest going into Christmas) “Through The Year, It’s Good to remember that Special Way!, That Everyone Feels, It’s The Magic of Christmas Day!” (The Answer to The Problem! Remember the Way Everyone was Joyful at Christmas Time!) Then, We continue into The Body of The Song, that God blesses Everyone whether They are Good or Bad, Happy or Sad. and, It’s good to be Here (at Christmas Time) again! Towards, The End of The Body of The Song, It continues with The Perfect Way to get some Christmas Magic and Cheer! “So, Fill Your Heart with Love and Joy; and, Through The Eyes of Girls and Boys” (the Next Part will give you Chills! The Best Way to get Christmas Cheer!) “Share Their Wonder, Live through Their Joy!, It’s Easy to do! Just Open Your Heart and The Spirit (Christmas Spirit) will come to You!” Then comes a Christmassy Segway into The Body of The Song and Ending with “It’s Good to be here again!’. 
Before We close Part 2 of My Mini-Series, I want to share a Short but, Magical Story with You. So, As I have Mentioned around This Time of Year, One of The Mega-Churches in Our Area does a Dinner for The Special Needs Community. “The Special Friends Dinner”, They call it. A Way for Those with Special Needs to feel included in Christmas and Holiday Festivities. I will tell you, Yes, It was a Regular Christmas Dinner that We have had Each Year, but This Year, I really could feel The Magic in The Room. In Fact, We all got Christmas Jingle Bells for us to Ring aloud while The Pastor was singing on Stage. And, then, on Sunday, Our Neighbours, Mr. Marshall and Miss Patty took us over to Their Church because One of Their Kids was in a Kids’ Christmas Production. It was a Sing-along/Dance-along, It was Pretty Cool! Again though, The Friendliness of The People there was Magical as well. All in all, Yes, There is such thing as Christmas Magic. As The Song that We analyzed mentions; Just talk to Kids about it, They’ll tell you all about The Christmas Magic. and, Believe Me, that alone will make you Believe in it again. Even if You already Believe!


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Let The Child in You come out and Enjoy The Spirit of Christmas!

December 4, 2018

The Christianville Spirit: Analyzing Christmas Carols-Part 1 (Mini-Series)



The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience
December 4th, 2018-TCS # 617

Happy December, My Readers! Wow! Can You believe that The Year is almost over?! And, What a Year it has been, but More on that after Christmas. It is that Time of Year again though! It is My Favorite Time of Year, The Month of December filled with Christmas Cheer, Christmas Music, Christmas Lights, and above all, Christmas Magic (And, Believe Me, It can happen!). I know I Write The Following Statement Every Year but, I Love December because of One Holiday, Christmas. I do however have a bit of a Different Swing to My “Happy December” Newsletter. So, This December and Christmas Holiday Season, I have been getting Creative with Things including My Christmas Display. So, This Newsletter is going to be No Exception. So, Let Me Start with This Statement

My Name is Christian Smith-Centeno and I believe in Santa Claus! Wow! It takes a Man to say that! It takes a Man to say at My Age that He still believes in Santa Claus. In Fact, I challenge you to say the Same Thing.

So, I have talked about Santa Claus before (Refer to “Where is The North Pole?” Newsletter). This Year, We are taking a Different Direction with It. So, This Begins with a Story. So, My Mom and I were watching The End of The Christmas Special, Santa Claus is coming to Town and We were looking for The Next Thing to Watch when I noticed that Another Christmas Special was on, called Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer. Then, My Mom and I had a Funny Discussion about That Song and How It actually sounds. Honestly, of All of The Christmas Carols that We sing Every Year, This has to be The Funniest as well as The Most Morbid Christmas Song to Hear or Sing. You See, As I mentioned in “The Meaning of MMMBop” Newsletter, often times, People sing The Lyrics of Songs, but They never really Pay Attention to The Lyrics of What They are Singing. So, Just like I analyzed The Meaning of MMMBop. For The Next 3 Newsletters, I want to Share with You, The Songs and Meanings of Some of My Favourite Christmas Songs in 3-Newsletter Mini-Series that I am calling Analyzing Christmas Carols. So, Without Further a due, This is My Christmas Mini-Series Analyzing Christmas Carols. This Song is “Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer” by Elmo and Patsy.

 The Song Starts with Two “Young” Guys singing about How Grandma got ran over by a Reindeer in Detail. “Grandma Got Ran over by a Reindeer” The Song explains how Grandma as walking Home from The Family’s House on Christmas Eve and Mentioning what Musicians call “The Body of The Song”. “You can say There’s no such things as Santa, but, as for Me and Grandpa, We Believe”. The Song continues, “She’d been Drinking too Egg Nog” (Which Some People do at Christmas Time) “And, We begged her not to go”; “But, She forgot her Medication and She staggered out The Door into The Snow”. Question, Why didn’t Grandpa Stop Her?! or Go and Get her Medication. I wonder. The Song Continues, “When We found her Christmas Morning, at The Scene of The Attack, She had hoof-prints on Her Forehead and Incriminating Claw Marks on Her Back” and Then, It goes to The Body of The Song before continuing. It makes me wonder though, How could The Family not hear The Jingle Bells getting Louder, and Grandma most likely Yelling. Also, Why did it take until Christmas Morning to Find Her? Didn’t Grandpa want to know where His Wife was? If She had hoof prints on Her Forehead and Her Back, that means The Reindeer hit her, knocked her over, She rolled around a few Times, and They trampled on Her Back. How Horrific is That?! that sounds Painful. There had to Blood Everywhere. What a Horrible Death! Hopefully, The Egg Nog kept her from Feeling Everything!
The Song continues, “We are all so Proud of Grandpa; He’s been taking this so Well; See Him in there watching Football; Drinking Beer and Playing Cards with Cousin Mel” Okay, so Grandpa is over here acting like Nothing is Wrong. Perhaps, dealing with it in His Own Way, but, He is drinking too. It could have been Him! The Song mentions that It is not Christmas without Grandma, The Fact that The Family is Dressed in Black (Due to Mourning) and that, They wonder if They should open Grandma’s Gifts or Send them back. The Crowd in The Background says Send Them Back. (I Agree!) Although, I wonder now, What would be in those Gifts. The Body of The Song comes next and then, We continue, “Now The Goose is on The Table, and The Pudding made of Fig” (Trying My Neighbour’s Fig, were Good, I am wondering how Good that would be) “And, The Blue and Silver Candles! That would just have matched the Hair in Grandma’s Wig” (Oh Boy! Blue and Silver Candles looking like Grandma’s Hair; So, Maybe She was a Dallas Cowboy Fan but, What a Reminder of The Event!) “I’ve warned all My Friends and Neighbors; Better Watch Out for Yourselves!” “They should Never give a License to a Man who drives a Sleigh and Plays with Elves.” (Now, that sounds a Little Creepy!) The Song continues into The Body of The Song before The Last of What Musicians call “the Last Stanza” with Everyone singing behind Re-Explaining The Whole Story how Grandma got ran over by a Reindeer, Walking home from The Family’s House on Christmas Eve, You can say that There is No such thing as Santa, as for Me and Grandpa we believe and ending with a Deep Voice saying “Merry Christmas!”. Okay, so Thought here, I assumed that Santa always stays Above Ground, going from Roof to Roof, or Landing at Special Houses and Clicking his Magic Fingers for Gifts to appear. I mean, again, This Theory of Santa not stopping at Literally Every House on Earth in One Night, Logically..Really! That 7 Billon Houses in the Entire World. And, He would not stop for a Grandma that He just ran over! Isn’t that called a Hit and Run?!
 So, with that said, Perhaps, Santa saw Grandma down there walking down The Street, and thought “Bonus Points!”. And, Who knows? Perhaps Santa might had drinking too much Egg Nog as Well. I give My Condolences to The Family of Grandma. Maybe Next Year,   Santa will be More Careful.
 All in all, Be Careful if You Drink Egg Nog on Christmas Eve, Don’t Walk Home where Santa can run You down, Take an Uber or a Lyft.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Never Drink and Drive...A Sleigh!

November 28, 2018

The Christianville Spirit: Words and Actions



The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience
November 28th, 2018-TCS # 616

Čao, My Readers! So, This is a Slightly New Greeting! This is a Formal but, Slang Way of saying Hello in Czech. It means “Yo” in Czech. I am told that It sounds like “Ciao” in Italian but, with a Czech Twist. You Learn Something New Everyday! Before I get started, Welcome to The Holiday Season! The Most Joyest Time of The Year and My Favourite Time of The Year! I think It might be time to address something, I do realize that I am writing with a European Style with words like Neighbour, Favourite, and so on. Honestly, I kind of like the Way The Words look, They look more enhanced. Compare Neighbor vs. Neighbour. Which one looks cooler? I know they look and sound alike but, To Me, The “our” part sounds more like Orr like Nay-Bour instead Nay-Ber or Fav-Er-It in American English over Fav-Orr-It. 
Anyway, Enough about that. So, Considering It is The Holidays, Let’s talk about Something that matters. So, I have Learned A lot of Lessons in This Crazy Year of 2018, but, One of Those Lessons that weights on My Heart is One called Words vs. Actions. Now, Yes, to a certain extent, If Your First Love Language (Which We talked about a Few Weeks Ago) is “Words of Affirmation”, than Words can show that You are Loved. However, At The Same Time, Some People give You Words of Love with No Action or an Opposite Action of What Their Words were, and That is where The Lesson comes in. Some People will tell you that Action-less Love comes worse from Your Family vs. Friends and Strangers. You See, I had Two Examples of Both Extremes. Love with Action, something that My Friend, PTLS Member Relation and Appalachian/Pacific Crest Trail Hiker, Delaware Dave calls “Love in Action” and Of Course, Action-less Love. So, The Other Day, My Mom got a Crazy Idea (When does that Not Happen! LOL) to want to Decorate Our Front Yard. Now, For The Record, We are better decorating Inside Our House at Christmas, than We are Outside. I Digress. My Mom got some Little Snowmen to put in Our Front Yard and Then We put The Lights on The Bushes in Front, because When We do decorate Outside, that is a Tradition. Anyway, We figured that We should go and get Some more Little Snowmen. Apparently, Our Lovely Neighbours across The Street really enjoyed The Little Snowmen! So, Off to The Store We went. So, We go to The Christmas Section and My Mind goes Crazy! Thinking that We need that, No We Don’t. Oh, That would be Cool if... You get The Idea. So, We arrived where My Mom had gotten The Snowmen, and Again, My Literal Mind was looking at Each Thing and Wondering how it would look in The Yard. I started to think aloud like “I feel like I want to go Crazy This Year with Christmas Lights!” Of Course, a Teenager at that moment was staring at Me. I thought in My Head, “Do I sound like I was Literally Crazy or Am I thinking out loud, Too Loudly” It was like I could feel the Warmth (Not Good Warmth) of The Stare! Then, Came a Guy with a Big Scissor Lift. I thought, “Oh Boy, got to get out of The Way”, He was helping The Parents of The Teen that was Staring. After He helped them, He looked down at Me while He was Up There, He started to be Silly, and asked if I needed anything like a Light-Up Reindeer, Lighted Tree, or  Snowman that They had Up There. After all, The Sign up there said that to Let Someone know if You needed Assistance. I thought for a Minute, not knowing if He was Serious or not. Then, He lowered The Lift and asked if I wanted a Ride on it. Again, I wondered if He was Serious or not. I was not sure to answer Yes or No. I first said, No. and then, I thought, “When The Opportunity presents Itself...” and then, I answered a little nervously “Sure”. He let me hop onto The Lift and told Me to Hold on and Held on I did! We went up and down the Aisle and then, He took Me up to The Top Shelf of Where He just was. He and I talked and Laughed as He was showing me and Explaining to Me what His Job was. How He puts up The Signs; The Decorations; Work with The Vents; Anything that Needs to be done Way up There. After He brought me back down, He shook My Hand and He told me, “Nice to Meet You, Christian; My Name is K, Some People call me ‘Special K’. If You ever need anything, You come find me” and, That was it. I thought it was Pretty Cool to see The Store from a Different Viewpoint. and, Not Everyone can say that They have been on a Scissor Lift for a Short Ride. He said that Most People are Scared of The Height of It and I was one of The Few People who weren’t scared. My Mom went back over there The Next Day and Thanked Him because It really touched Her Heart to see Random Kindness like That. He was a “Christmas Elf” as My Mom says. He told her that “The Spirit just told him to do it”. 
However, There is also Times of Action-less Words and Action-less Love. Over Thanksgiving, I had a Phone Call with Members of “Family” where It was Very Clear to Me that Their Words did not have The Heart-Felt Meaning. To Me, Words that have Heart-Felt Meaning, means a lot more to Me than Not. To Me, It is what I have called “Wasted Ears”. There is No Point in Saying saying Meaningful Things, whether It is Something going on in Your Life, Something that You want to Teach Them, or a Feeling that You want to Express when it does not come from The Heart, It goes through Wasted Ears. Meaning, You are Wasting Your Energy and Thought telling Someone, Something You really don’t mean.
So, Why do People say things that They really do not mean? So, Wasted Ear or Wasted Words. It is The Same Thing. It is not that I want actual things, It is that I want True Words from The Heart. All in all, You know What They say, Actions speak Louder than Words. And, Words without Meaning are Meaningless.



Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Do Random Acts of Kindness, You might Touch Someone’s Heart.

November 14, 2018

The Christianville Spirit: A Reflective Thanksgiving



The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience
November 14th, 2018-TCS # 615

Hello My Wonderful Readers and Happy Thanksgiving! Yes, I realize that It is a Week early but, I am really going to give you something to Think about. My Friends, It is that Time of Year again, My Second Favorite Time of Year after Christmas. I Love Thanksgiving though! I mean The Turkey, The Stuffing, and The Family, What more could You want? I am thankful for Many Things and Many Things extra! The Roof over My Head, Food on The Table, and All the Basic Things that We have that We don’t realize that We should be Grateful for. So Let’s be Real for a second. What are You Thankful for? Yeah, Yeah! I know! We are asked this Question every year and usually We answer with Something simple like Your House, Your Family, or Yes, even Your Wealth. Maybe It is The Roof over Your Head, Food on The Table, and Money to pay for The Food as My Mom likes to say in Our Dinner Prayers. But, This Year, Let’s Talk about a Few Sung and Unsung Heroes. You See, Normally I see Thanksgiving as Not only a Time with Your Family but, A Time to Have Fun! Eat Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Mac and Cheese, Whatever You can pile on Your Plate! This Year, I see Thanksgiving as a Great Time to Reflect. I would be Lying if I said, “Oh! This Year was a Good Year, It was Perfect”. No, Not This Year. Maybe Next Year. This Year of 2018 seems to be The Year that Things just didn’t go Right. When They don’t go Right, and Things don’t go The Way that You Planned or Hoped, but then again, In Life, What does go as Planned? In another Year from Now, I will probably look back on My Records and Laugh at How Ridiculous I sound. But, This Year, I Guess is What I will call a Year of Reflection. You know those, when You are Happy and You think “What would possibly Go Wrong?!”. Yep, That was This Year. Okay, so We came out Relatively Unscathed, maybe not Our Finances but, Mostly Unscathed, We survived! Now, I could list The People and Things that I am Thankful for; Family, PTLS Family Members, Two Sponsored Trips to Europe, Friends, and Neighbours. But, What kind of Reflection is That?! I am Truly Thankful who at The Grace of God that helped both My Mom and I stay sane in this Crazy Year of 2018. So, Here is a My List of Reflection Year Thankfulness. The Unsung Heros!
  • Even though you screwed up in Fixing Our Plumbing, I thank The Plumbers who did Fix Our Plumbing.
  • Thank You to a Helper of a Friend who helped replace The Part of The Ceiling and Repaint that The Plumber’s Assistant fell through. As Well as, The Holes that Plumbers made during The Re-Route Process
  • Thank You to the neighbours who helped when Our A/C Went out
  • Thank You to Rene the A/C guy
  • When Our Car’s Window messed up, A Very Kind Stranger at a Auto Zone in a Small Town Texas got The Genius Idea to Jam Business Cards in The Window until We could get to Atlanta in Our Family Emergency and Get it Fixed.
  • The Biggest of Thank You to Everyone for Helping my Grandma Honey and us either Directly (Waffle House Friends; “Miss Jan’s” Neighbours; The Fireman who saved her as well as All of The Paramedics that helped her as well. She calls them “Her Boys”) or Indirectly (The Stranger mentioned above and Grandma Honey’s Car Mechanic for His Humor”)
  • The Doctors in Grandma Honey’s Care
  • Let’s not Forget, Grandma Honey herself! Extremely Thankful that She is Alive and Well as I write This.
  • Thank You Our Neighbour, Kathy and Daughter, Jessica for Watching Our Dogs at Literally The Last Minute due to Our Family Emergency
  • Thankful for Mr. Jeff for Many Things including Attempting to Fix Our Car and Eventually, Deciding to get a New Car. Thank you Mr. Jeff for remembering everything that was important when I was growing up. I did not know you understood me like you do. 
  • I am Thankful for my Brother, Michael. Thank You for Understanding me
  • I am Thankful for Marta, who spent time helping me and Translating for Me. 
  • I am Thankful for my Uncle Scott Lerew, who is the Best Father Figure to me and Supports Me.
  • I am Thankful for the Rasenti Family for showing me so much love
  • I am Thankful for Deb for our Saturday Shows.
  • I am Thankful for Robin for sitting with me while my Mom went to see My Brother
  • I am Thankful for Max, who makes me laugh and let’s me tell her about anything.
  • I am Thankful for My Adopted Family in Stockholm, Josefina and Mattias, and My Ljusterƶ Family 
  • I am Thankful for my PTLS Family who Love me. I Love You!
I am sure that I am missing a Few Unsung Heroes So, If I do not mention You, For The Bottom of My Heart, I Thank You Very Much! All in all, I hope You have a Good Thanksgiving and Remember that Even though You are Having Fun during Your Thanksgiving, Remember not only be Thankful but, Reflect on Perhaps, Why You are Thankful!


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Give Thanks for People and Things in Your Life!

November 7, 2018

The Christianville Spirit: The Language of Love



The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience
November 7th, 2018-TCS # 614

Well, My Readers, It is The Day after Election! Finally, The Election and Anxiety is Over! Annndd, Breath! I am Glad that The Election is over, No Worrying. My Readers, I Want You to know that At This Point, I do not care Who or What Party You voted for. This was Yours (and, Mine) Choice as to What Direction that You want The Country to Go. But, Promise Me This... Never Ever Stop Loving Anyone Else because of Party or Appearances. Always Love Everyone! It should not matter what Party You are for, Right or Left. I should also put in My Disclaimer for My Newsletter regarding This and Any Oh-So-Sensitive Political Situations. 
Disclaimer here: **The Christianville Spirit is and Forever will be Non-Politically Aligned with any Candidate or Leader. Thank You!** 
So, Let’s Take a Breath and Let’s Love like Proud Americans do! In Order to Restart This Love, I am going to Re-share a Newsletter about Love. More on The Line of The Language of Love! Yes, Folks! It’s another Language that I get to Teach You! So, I have taught You Local Languages like English, Spanish, Italian, French, Swedish...You get The Idea. But, Then I challenged You and Taught You about the Language of Music. So, Now I am going to Re-Teach You about The Language of Love. Now, One would think, including Myself at One Point, that Everyone loved Another Person in The Same Way. When It comes to Love, One Size fits all, right? Yeah. Or so I thought anyway. So, How do You love Someone if Everyone loves Differently? Well, You find out What Language They speak. Hola! Como Estas?! No, not with that Language! Ahoj... (Czech), Bonjour... (French). Nope! Okay, People speak What is called a “Love Language”. I will let The Christian from 2013 explain via a Newsletter about Love Languages! Enjoy and Love Everyone!

This Newsletter was written on February 27th of 2013 (Refer to Newsletter 340)

So, 2 Weeks Ago, I was on YouTube, catching up with the you tubers that I watch, when I saw a video from one of their friends. It was a video explaining about a quiz about what is called, “The 5 Love Languages.” I had heard something about “The 5 Love Languages” a couple years ago but, I overlooked it and moved on. I also remember telling the PTLS Family Member that I have dates with Thursday & Friday about it because “Love Language” to My Literal Sense, means that it’s another language that you know or have to learn. Like learning to speak English or French. Anyway, after watching the video, I got a little curious about the quiz and all the time that I have been on Facebook (both Now and in the “Madison Days”) I always loved taking personality or romantic quizzes, so this one wasn’t any different. Anyway, This Quiz was a 30 Question quiz about what you would prefer in the way that someone shows how much they love you or really, how to love you. Needless to say, it was an interesting quiz because it made you think deeper about the way you want to be loved or shown love, than an entertainment quiz like “What’s Your Personality Color?” or “What Kind of Lover Are You?” So, after I took the quiz, it gave me the results. So, what they do is they give you a list of the 5 Love Languages that you speak most to least. So, My “Primary Love Language” is called Quality of Time. Quality of Time means that to Show that You Love Me is spending lots of time with me, giving me your undivided attention, and taking an interest into everything that I am saying. They say that no time together and not paying attention to what someone is saying, can be hurtful. So, here are the other 4 Love Languages...

  • Physical Touch: My 2nd Love Language. To show someone that you care and/or love them is to touch them appropriately like Holding Hands, Cuddling, and Putting Your Arm around them. If you touch them inappropriately, hit them, or push them, it can be hurtful.   
  • Words of Affirmation: Nothing says, “I Love You” like just saying something like, “I Love You, Honey”, “Your Amazing”, “Your Intelligent”, or Basic Compliments. However, Hateful Words, even if you think you are joking, it can be hurtful.
  • Acts of Service: This is My Mom’s 2nd Love Language. Actions speak Louder than Words. The Biggest way to this person’s heart is lending a helping hand with Homework, Housework, and Projects. However, things like Laziness and Broken Promises can be hurtful. 
  • Receiving Gifts: For those who speak this language, to show you love them is to shower them with gifts. They love gifts, for their Birthday, Valentine’s Day, or Just a random Tuesday Evening. However, If you miss and/or forget their birthday, No Roses on Valentine’s Day, or Not giving much, can be hurtful.
So, those are My 5 Love Languages. I’ll tell you though, it doesn’t only help you understand what Love Language comes out naturally to yourself. But, also it’s help you understand your Friend’s Love Language or better yet, your Romantic Interest’s Love Language. If you asked me if I would recommend this quiz, I would say Yes. I think you should try it and see what your 5 Love Languages are and help you understand your Friends & Family’s Love Languages better. All in All, You may not think about it, but Love Languages are an important part of your life.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Meet Your Love in The Middle. Learn where your “Middle” is.

October 31, 2018

The Christianville Spirit: Halloween. Oh Boy!




The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience
October 31st, 2018- TCS # 613

So, Happy Halloween, My Readers! I do not like Halloween. Remember to be Kind to The Kids Trick or Treating and Try Not to be too Scary. Happy Halloween Everyone! Yes, Halloween is one of those Holidays that I dread! The Scary, The Spooky, The Screaming, and Of Course, The Masks! It is said that on Halloween, You can be anyone or Thing that You want to. It is Fun! You should try it! I have heard People say! Some Times, People test the Limits of Who They want to be and Get Very Creative. Be a Figure of Modern Day (US President, Donald Trump; Former President Obama; Perhaps, Something from The Movies like The Clown from “It” or Freddy Kruger Come to Mind); In Honor of The Mid-Terms, You could be a Ballot (Yes that is Reference to The TV Show “How I Met Your Mother”); The Sky is The Limit! Well, Perhaps, be a little mindful of Certain Costumes. I Digress. But, To Me, Halloween is a Scary Holiday. Again, To Me, It should not be. In Fact, I would fine if It were more about Autumn and Perhaps, People dressed as Their Favorite Part of Autumn. 
Anyway, so This Week’s Newsletter is going to be a Real Treat, a Double Feature! Yes, My Readers! A Double Feature! I am going to talk about Halloween and It’s Origins and Then, How I feel about Halloween in The Second One. It is My Treat for You!
Happy Halloween, My Readers! I’ll be ready for November 1st!


Let’s Talk about Halloween
This Newsletter was written on October 25th of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 567)

So, Happy Halloween, My Readers! and, a Happy Birthday to My Brother, Michael! His Birthday is Tomorrow! I do not like Halloween. Remember to be Kind to The Kids Trick or Treating and Try Not to be too Scary. Happy Halloween Everyone! So, It is that Time of Year again, The Time of Year that unlike Christmas, I dread. Halloween. Okay, so, Two Things that come to Mind with This Newsletter. One Thing is Halloween was NOT as Scary as it is Today. Yes, I thought that Halloween deserved a History Lesson because Halloween might as well be a Holiday from Hell (Sorry Kids!) Actually, There are People who believe that and can back it up with Scary Facts. So, Halloween (otherwise known as “Hallowe’en” or What it originally was called back in Pagan Europe, Pre-Christianity, “Samhain”. (or Basically, My Least Favorite Holiday) Anyway, Halloween or Samhain is a Celtic Holiday that is basically the Eve before All Saints Day. A little darker version of Christmas Eve basically. Anyway, People in the Celtic Region went to Neighbor’s or Friends House to knock on Their Door and Recite Poems to The Door Answerer, and for that, They would get a Treat of some sort. Yes, they did dress up, but only as Angels or Mock-Spirits to prevent Real Spirits of The Bad Kind from Harming them. So, In other words, They would trick The Spirits into thinking that They were another Bad Spirit. Again, The Celtic Rumor at the Time was that Spirit of Good and Bad would come to Earth more likely on Samhain. Maybe because All Saint’s Day was a not-so-great day to do that. So, “Trick or Treating” took it’s form going from Reciting Poems to Pranks for Treats, which then turned an Americanized Holiday and Now, We “Trick or Treat” to get Candy. Some say, It is a Night for The Kids to get Candy and Get High on Sugar, that and dress in Cute Costumes (like Super Heroes). As long as There is No Mask, I am okay in that category. Others say It is a Night for Mischief. Now, to be fair, Mocking Spirits in either Good or Bad Ways, back in The Celtic Days, probably was considered Mischief. and, This is where Halloween gets Bad because Today’s Mischief means Toilet Paper and Egging. I, of course, would never do that. and, Finally, The Pranks. Now, People can get Extreme with Pranks and of Course, dressing as Scary as You can and Scare Kids. Logic says, It is Scary Holiday, Right?! Well, The Pranks, The Scary (Costumes with Masks and Scary Figures), and The Mischief are Why I Hate Halloween. Honestly, for Some People who don’t celebrate Halloween, those are The Facts that They use to say that Halloween is a Hellish Holiday. Now, Here comes the Second Thought here, but, I was reading an Article from a Site called “Scary Mommy” it basically described Halloween for a More Autistic Kid Way of “Observing Halloween”. They, I feel are The People in The Middle. The People that really don’t want Observe Halloween but, Yet They don’t want to be Counted Out of Halloween. In Other Words, They have to Conform to Halloween. Come to Think of It, They would be Okay, Reciting Poems and then, Maybe flipping on and off The Lights! Now, Back when I was Kid, I pretty much had to Conform to it. I did not want to go Trick or Treating, but Everyone else was doing it and I did not want to not be Included in it. Luckily, I lived on a Street that had a Cul’d Sac and Four Yards interconnected. So, We would have a Little Block Party on Our Cul d’ Sac. At That Time, I was more fascinated with Hanging Out with The Block Party because it seemed like Fun to do so. Of Course, When It was time to go Trick or Treating, I did not want to, I wanted to stay at the Block Party but, I went Anyway. The Most Exciting Part to me of Trick or Treating was not The Candy or Shouting “Trick or Treat!” I was more Excited about Ringing The Doorbell and Seeing The Inside of My Neighbor’s House. The Scary Mommy article mentions that Her Child likes to go inside and Look at The Lights or some off thing in Their Neighbor’s Houses. After all, Special Needs Logic and Regular Logic would say that if You rang the doorbell of Someone’s House and They answer it, that means You can Come In and Talk. Now, I did not do that as a Kid, but I did look inside from The Front Door to what I could see Inside. Because I was Curious about The Lights inside. After that, I did that at Every House. It is a Chance to see what was Inside Your Neighbor’s House even just for a Second. I was a Kid, who really like the Style of Lights. I really liked The Flashing Lights or Lights that did different things inside their House. After going Trick or Treating, I was excited to get back to The Block Party, It is a Fun Time! These Days, I am glad that I don’t have to conform to Halloween. I can Hide in My House, Watch TV, or Maybe go to The Book Store and Read while All the Kids go Trick or Treating. I know that I am not Alone because I have talked to others that feel the same way. All We ask for is Some Understanding and Respect! All in all, Just Because You like Halloween does not mean that Your Child does. Anxiety goes way up and it does not feel good!




My Discontent with Halloween
This Newsletter was written on November 5th of 2014 (Refer to Newsletter 424)

Hello, My Readers! Happy November! It is only a Month and a Few Days until My Brother’s Graduation! So Excited! So, On to This Week’s Newsletter! So, I hope that You had a Good Halloween and I hope You were kind to The Kids Trick or Treating. As for Me, I don’t like Halloween and I believe that I should tell you why I do not  like Halloween not just seeing that I write, “I don’t like Halloween” and You just wondering why. Well, My Friends, The Truth is that it is for Many Reasons but, as I realized This Year, it all ties Together. The First Reason I tell People (and, Myself) is that it is because of The Costumes. To Me, In My Head, that sounds a bit Crazy because after all, I “Dress Up like a Northerner” when It Snows. But, We will start with The Root Cause that I found out, Reason #1 that leads to them all. You See, Because of PTLS, I have lack of Depth Perception, In other words, I can’t see very well in 3D. Because of that, when I see Someone with a Scary-looking Mask coming at Me, My Anxiety Level rises, Add The Lack of 3D, and We have some Trouble! Now, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I like Happy Costumes, without Masks like Disney Characters (This Year, I counted 2 Elsas). Costumes like Santa Claus I can deal with because He represents Happiness and Holiday Cheer. Plus, Adding to Lack of 3D and Costumes, It probably was not a Good Idea that My Dad took My Brother and I into Haunted Houses when We were Kids, (The Sort-of-Less-than-Scary-Kind) namely Fright Fest at Six Flags, One at Sea World, and Van Helsing at Universal Studios. In My Experience, Six Flags was The Most Scary and Van Helsing was not as Bad. So, With This Anxiety about Scary-Looking Figures moving up and down the Streets, comes an Avoidance Factor that I have been doing since I was 5 Years Old. Now, I didn’t mind Halloween when I was younger, according to My Mom, I would find fun Ringing The Doorbell and Walking Around. It did help calm the Nerves when We had a little Street Party on Our Cul-de-Sac during “The Jeff Era.” But, Now a Days, I find that It is Easier to either Stay at Home and Watch TV with The Lights Off in The Front or Go to Barnes & Noble and Read some Geography Books. Honestly, It does feel a Little Lonely because In My Head, It seems like I am the Only One out of My Friends as well as My Brother, who does not like Halloween. It seems like My Friends like Horror Movies and I am the Only One who Loves Romantic Comedies. I am one of those people who would rather skip Halloween and Get Excited about My Favorite Holiday, Christmas. I think It feels Lonely because I wish that I had Someone who also did not like Halloween and Would Support “Avoiding Halloween” with Me. Now, It did help though, that I ran into Someone We Knew who’s Child was “Avoiding Halloween” also. At The End of The Night, I posted on Facebook about it and Surprisingly, There were People who Understood and It made me feel very happy to hear that. A Bonus is that Not only does it help Me in a Self-Expressing Outlet, but It also helps PTLS Members understand their Child or Prepare for It. Now, Who Knows though, I may be writing this all lonely about Halloween and Later on in Life, I may or may not feel this way about it, Maybe My Soulmate may Talk Me Out of It and We may go somewhere in a Couples Costume (but, still Avoiding The Scary Ones). Wishful Thinking, I guess we can call it. All in All, Do Consider those People who do not like Holidays like Halloween and Treat Them Kindly.



Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Spread Love to Everyone. You never Know Who needs it.