The Christianville Spirit: Uncle Craig's Last Week in Dallas

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

May 28, 2014-TCS # 403

So, Remember back a Year ago when I said My Uncle Craig would only be here in Dallas for a Year? Well, Unfortunately, It is the End of His Year Term here in Dallas Officially. We had a lot of Great Times with Him on little segments that I referred to as “The Uncle Craig Chronicles.” From Uncle Craig’s Tour of Dallas to Our Adventures with Him as well as Cousins Anna & Olivia. Let’s Not Forget The Fun Time We had with His Wife, Kellie. It was always a surprise with What we were going to see when We were with Him. Just before New Years, Uncle Craig, Kellie, and My Brother were hanging out at a Local Upscale Bar, when My Mom and I came over so that We could go to Dinner at the place down the street. A Guy started talking to My Mom and I, Well, Long Story Short, They went out on a Date and It was The First Date My Mom has been on in a While, I was Very Proud of Her. Anyway, so This week, I am writing the Final “Uncle Craig Chronicles” of His Year Long Term in Dallas. So, My Brother and I, along with Our Friend Spencer hang out every now and then. We’d always go out to Lunch or Dinner and spend some Guy Time Together. On Uncle Craig’s Final Night, He actually came to hang out with Us! Now, In Most of His Time Here, He would go out for a “Guy’s Night” with My Brother and His Friends but Not with Me; I’m not a Bar Scene kind of Guy, so that is why. Anyway, This Time (which was on Newsletter Day Last Week), I let Spencer pick the place. The Place was a Burger Joint called Kenny’s Burger House. It was a Pretty cool place and I didn’t know that They had a “Man vs. Food-like Challenge” there. It was a 7 Pound Burger that had 700 Calories. I didn’t do it and neither did anyone else but, We read the Sign for It and I’ll put it This Way, There were More People who Lost than Those who Finished It. The Time we had was Really Fun because Spencer had never met My Uncle Craig. I always would tell him about the Progress of Craig’s Work, but He never knew who he was until now. They were Very Impressed with Each Other. Spencer was impressed at Uncle Craig’s Knowledge (which Uncle Craig is Very Smart) and Uncle Craig was impressed at How Spencer takes me under his wing and Makes Me feel included in The Group. Right before We started Eating, I did a Toast for Uncle Craig’s Last Week in Dallas. After We had Dinner, My Brother wanted to go to “The Holy Grail” which is One of His Favorite Hangout Spots. Now, I don’t like going to Bars, like I said earlier, but This Place has a more of Mini-Pub kind of Bar. So, We sat Outside and Hung Out while watching all the People and Cars driving by. I’ve learned that If you have to go to a Bar and You don’t drink alcohol, a “Shirley Temple” (Sprite with Cherry Juice in It) is the best drink to fit in. Soda doesn’t always make you fit in at Any Bar. We got to have lot of a Good Conversations between All of Us and We enjoyed Each Other’s Company as well. After all that fun, we headed home. The Next Day, Thursday, which was also Lynee Watson Day (or Lynee Day for Short), was The Day that I saw coming Months in Advance finally came and I wasn’t happy about it. My Mom and I drove down to Uncle Craig’s Condo and Took Him to The Airport. I was Sad because of The Fact that It was Time for Uncle Craig to Go back Home to Ohio. It felt Normal to Me to have him in My City to hang out when He was in Town, but At Some Point I knew that, Unfortunately, the Normalcy of Him here wouldn’t last forever. So, My Mom and I dropped him off at The Airport and He was on His Way back to Ohio. On The Way Home, I did a “Lynee Day Observance” which was a Moment of Silence at 3:33Pm Eastern/2:22Pm Central to honor One Of My Best Friend’s Lynee from Elementary School who passed away in 2008. I hope that She continues to be My Guardian Angel. All in all, I Loved having Family in Town and I hope Uncle Craig enjoyed it here in Dallas.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Family is Very Important. Spend as Much Time with Them as You Can. 

The Christianville Spirit: Celebration of Life

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

May 22, 2014-TCS # 402

So, Happy Lynee Day, My Readers! As You will remember, One of My Best Friends, Lynee Watson from Elementary School had passed on this day in 2008 and I found out about it 2 Years after She had past away. So, I celebrate her life as well as The Day She became My Guardian Angel, I named the day she died, Lynee Day in honor of Her. Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter, so after One of Life’s Crazy Weeks for My Mom and I, We had planned to go to Mississippi for a Horse Clinic that was benefiting PTLS, but There was some sort of Pull, if you will, that said “Don’t Go Out There Now. Go Later”. In other words, It was God saying that He had a Different Plan for Us. Well, on Saturday, which was The Horse Clinic, We decided to go for a little drive into The Country. Now, I was wanting to go to Lake Murray in Oklahoma because I heard that it was really pretty. But again, something told me not to go. I thought, “Oh No, This is going to be a Boring Weekend!” because after all, We weren’t going to Mississippi Or Lake Murray, so we settled on Pilot Point and took the back roads to get there. I’ll say, it actually was a Nice Drive going the Back Roads instead of the Most Direct Route. Sometimes, It pays to go the Back Roads! Anyway, so We drove over to this hotel/ranch on Lake Ray Roberts called Lantana, it was where My Mom’s Friend got Married once. Although, They were getting ready for a Wedding, It was nice to hear nothing (except The Workers getting the Chairs set up) and not have to Deal with “City Noise.” We stood there and looked at the view of The Lake, watching the boaters and seeing how low The Lake was. After that, We walked down a path from Lantana to The Lake, again, It was nice and quiet. My Mom and I were amazed at How Low the Lake level was with The Drought that we have been having. After We checked all that out , We drove down to a small town called Aubrey. Aubrey is a Blink-and-Miss-It kind of town and It is a Quiet Town. I should mention that There are a ton of Horses and Quite a few Horse Hospitals as well. After we visited Aubrey, We took the Back Roads back Home and Cooked some really good Mac n’ Cheese. That Night, I thought, “Okay, God. What is The Reason behind Staying in Town over Mississippi or Lake Murray?” I found out The Reason The Next Day. So, Sunday Morning, My Mom wakes me up and tells me, “Christian, We’re going to do 3 of Your Favorite Things!” She listed them slowly, “A Drive!” I said, “What? I thought we went on a Drive Yesterday?” My Mom continues, “La Hacinenda”(AKA My Favorite Restaurant in Town, Brisket Tacos are AWESOME there!) And, “Talking about PTLS.” So, a 3 in 1 there!  We got to meet another PTLS Member that lives here in town! It is really awesome though, because It makes Me feel less alone to know that there are PTLS Members in My Area and They are Growing, Slowly but, surely. As We were sitting at the table for a Late Lunch at La Hacienda, I heard a voice say, “There’s Your Reason” and I repeated in a low voice, “There’s My Reason.” In Other Words, That was The Reason to Stay in Town, It was to Meet Another PTLS Family. Now, that may sound little to You, but Sometimes, I forget (I’m going to sound as Humble I can) that PTLS Family Members need our help sometimes, Particularly, That They are interested in any of My Help. PTLS Members, Especially, the New Ones (And, Old Ones) need to know that Their Child will Eat, Talk, Walk, and So On. One PTLS Member told me that She wants to be able to have an Adult Conversation with Her Child and Honestly, When You are told that Your Child will never..(Insert What they Tell You Here), Who wouldn’t want to be able to have an Adult Conversation with Your Child. I Mean, You never know what You might learn from Your Child and Most People are, to say the least, Very Surprised at What They hear. They don’t realize sometimes that Their PTLS Child can hear, see, and pay attention to what The Parents are saying and Therefore they are Surprised when They say something and They are like, “Where in The World did You get that from?” So, I can tell you this because That is What I see in PTLS Members that I talk to. But, One Thing, I can assure you is that although Your Child may or may not have Challenges, They will do what Doctors says that They can’t do. So, Yes They will talk, They will Eat, and Yes, Even Eventually, They will be able to have an Adult Conversation with You in Their Own Way. All in all, I sincerely hope that Everything that we talk about when we meet or even through The Internet, that You are assured that Your Child will be Okay because I certainly am.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Celebrate The Life of Someone who Passed Away But, Even More Celebrate Them while They are Here. Happy Lynee Day!   

The Christianville Spirit: TCS Series; Forgiveness (Part 3)

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

May 14, 2014-TCS # 401

So, My Readers, I hope You all enjoyed My 400th Newsletter Celebration Last Week. It was so Awesome that We have made it This Far! So, Onward We Go! As a Continuation of The Celebration of My 400th Newsletter, I’m going to conclude My 3-Part Series about Happiness. So, We have covered What Happiness means to Others and What it means to Me, but What can be next for Simplifying Happiness? The Next Way is through something called Forgiveness. I heard on The Dr. Oz Show that He says that in order to be happier, You have to Forgive Wrong-Doers as well as saying I’m Sorry for hurting people. So, that is what we are going to do! So, with out a further a due This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Happiness...Simplified”! So, There is a saying that says, “Love means Never having to say that Your Sorry” Well, that is Partly True. That does not mean that You never have to say Your Sorry to Someone You Love. It just means that It is Much Better if You Do. So, What is Forgiveness exactly? Well, Part of It is Releasing the Guilt that The Wrong-Doer did. Now, It does not mean that They were Right about What They Did, nor Does that mean that They can come back into Your Life (which depending on The Case, If The Damage isn’t too bad, then Yes They can come back into Your Life) and Then, The Other Part of Forgiveness is Saying that You are Sorry for doing something to hurt someone, Either Intentionally or Accidentally. Dr. Oz says that after You do those things, It actually makes you Happier. I can see how it could make you Happier because It is Lifted Off of You and You don’t have to think about it anymore, as My Grandma Honey says, “It Was Five Minutes Ago!” So, For Example, I have a Forgiveness and an I’m Sorry Story to Tell You. You See, A Few Moms in The PTLS Family (who were both My PTLS “Aunts”) hurt us very badly emotionally. I refer to them as “Mom X” and “Mom X-2”. I only refer to them as that because I (as well as They) would not want their names on Here. But, You Know Who You Are. Anyway, It is Out of The Kindness of My Heart that I forgive both of You. It does not mean that it was right But, Most Importantly, I do Forgive You. So, The “I’m Sorry” One, comes from a Few Years Ago. There was a Girl who was My 2nd Girlfriend named Madison. After I broke up with Her, I was very upset and I called her a Bully. At This Point in My Life, Regardless whether I was right or wrong, I am Sorry to Madison for Saying That. I personally wish her a Ton of Success in The Direction that She is going and I hope to see her on The News one day, because She majored in Journalism. So, Those are My Forgivenesses. So, What is Your Forgiveness? According to Dr. Oz, We all have Someone who we made a Mistake to. It just takes The Willpower to Say, “I Forgive You for X-Y-Z” or “I’m Sorry for X-Y-Z.” All in all, It is Hard to say that Your Sorry or That You Forgive Someone. But, as long as You did it, Regardless of Whether They Accept it or not, You are A-Okay as My Brother’s Elementary School Teacher says.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Life is a Roller Coaster, It goes Way Up and at times, Goes Way Down; It is the Balance of Life, like it or not.

The Christianville Spirit: (TCS Series) My 400th Newsletter (Part 2)

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

May 7, 2014-TCS # 400

Well, My Readers, It is The Moment that We have been waiting for, My 400th Newsletter! Yes, Ladies and Gents, 400 Newsletters that I have written! So, I am just as surprised as You are! I have been writing this Newsletter for 8 Years, since October 2006. At First, It was not Every Wednesday, it was more like Every Other Week and then, on Odd Days like Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday to name a few. I finally chose Wednesday to make it a routine and It stuck. I have been Writing Every Wednesday Faithfully with a Few Breaks or Vacations since then. Anyway, Since This is My 400th Newsletter, My Gift to You, My Readers for reading Each Week..Is A Continuation of The Christianville Spirit Series, “Happiness...Simplified”! So, Without Further Ado, This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Happiness...Simplified”! So, Last Week I talked about What Happiness is, How to Spell It, and How People See Happiness. So, I’m sure that Leaves You Wondering all the days until Now, How do I see Happiness? Luckily, I am a generally Happy Guy, so It is not hard to make me Happy. But, Here is My List of What makes me Happy.

WHAT IS HAPPINESS TO ME

• To Tell You the Truth, I Like to see when People around Me are Happy. They are Happy and I am Happy
• My Number 1 Love Language is “Quality Time”, So I love it when I spend Quality Time with My Mom, Family, and Yes, even PTLS Family.
• If You Can Believe This One (Which Most People Don’t) I love Watching Movies, Particularly The Happy Movies like Romantic Comedies, Happy “Soulmate Movies” (Happy Romances), and Comedies.
• I’ll tie this one to The Movie part, You Know that part in an Action Movie where The Character is standing there and One of them realizes that a Something is about to blow up? Then, They say, “Uh Oh”, “That Can’t be Good”, or “Ohhh Crraaap!”and then, It blows up, Yea that gets me Laughing up a Storm. My Apologies for The Language Above.
• I love going on Drives! Whether that means Going on a New Road, New Neighborhood, and to a New Town. They are fun to Me because I get to See all the Road Signs (Front and Back), The Newness of a Road, and The Newness of a New Neighborhood.
• I Love to Cyber-Travel on Google Maps’ Street View. I go All over The World! I just pick a Place that I feel like going to and I drop The “Little Map Character” on a Road and I just start Driving around.
• There is a Part of Me that Loves Nature. I Love seeing Tall Trees. Each Time I go to My Grandma Honey’s House, She has this All Glass surrounding “Sun Room”. We in The Smith Family call it “The Tree House” because You wake up and You see all the Tall Trees surrounding You. That is probably why I have been dreaming of going to Atlanta because I know that There are Tall Trees, Nature, and Family, A Wonderful Combo!
• Family, I should mention is Very Important to Me. Being around Family makes me Happy because The Smith Family is Funny when They want to be and They Understand Me.
• I am Happy when I know that Someone understands Where I am coming from. That is Why I Love My PTLS Family so much! Because I know that They understand (or Try to Understand) Everything about Me. Why I am The Way that I Am.
• Being Accepted as Part of Society. It makes me feel that I am part of Something and Am Included.
• I enjoy Helping People understand about Me and PTLS, or Having Special Needs in General. I love Sharing My Uniqueness with PTLS Members as well as Everyone Else and Standing Up for My PTLS “Brothers” and “Sisters” who can’t speak. 
• It makes me Happy to Picture what My Life will be like with The Women of My Dreams, Bridgett. Sometimes, I picture us laying in a Hammock on The Beach on Vacation with Lots of Palm Trees and Turquoise Water, In a Very Relaxed Fashion, Cuddling Together. 
• And, Finally, I Love My Readers! The Readers who come and Read This Newsletter from Week to Week. I Love Writing to You like You are all My Friends (And, Some of You are!); sort of like What YouTubers Do, Only in Writing Form.

So, As You can see, That is What makes me Happy. I am really quite a Simple Guy, I don’t like Things that are Complicated. Things should not be Complicated. I know that Some People like Complicated, I personally do not. All in all, All It takes is to be Happy in Life! Like That Song, “Because I am Happy!” 

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. It’s My 400th Newsletter! Let’s Celebrate!