The Christianville Spirit: Christian's Year-In-Review 2019

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

December 26th, 2019-TCS # 668

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. It has been a Year that has Made You Know What Love is. (Belting Out in Song): I Want to Know What Love is!

See what I did there, hehe! This Year’s Tagline was “The Spirit that Know Love”. It was an Excellent Theming, considering How Crazy 2018 was! This Year’s Tagline, by the way is Credited to PTLS Family Member, Leonie Clements of Australia.
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, Not to Pat Myself on The Back, but I feel like I carried The Theme of That pretty well This Year. Now, This Year was rather Interesting for Several Reasons. The First Part of The Year and “Cleaning Up” (If You will) from The Craziness of The Year before; Then, Once The Year got started and We got more Comfortable with The Year, then The Year started to get much better. Now, Yes, like Every Year, It does not come without It’s Lumps and Bumps. and, Of Course, The Biggest Lesson is that Sometimes in a Course, of a Year, You have Grown, Transitioned, and Wondered How did I get Here?! Like It was totally not what You planned but, Sometimes, Life and Love show up in literally The Oddest of Places!  

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 According to Love and with Your Heart and That is What I did. Because I wanted This Year to Much Better than The Year Before, I wanted to Make some Very Loving and Heart-Felt Goals This Year.

So, Here are My 2019 Goals with Love and Heart!

• I want True Love. The Kind of Love that makes you Complete as well as Love that You can perfect over The Years. Love that makes you Fall in Love over and over, and You never get Tired of It; that Laughing at Something really Mundane kind of Love; Lay Underneath The Christmas Tree together or 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, Believe It or Not. I am Working Currently on this Goal! Continuing It into 2020)
• More Time with Friends, Near and Far! (This Year, Yes I got to Spend Time with Friends and Of Course, Make Friends. I Saw Some Friends that I knew but, Never really met in Person until This Year)
• Learning to do Activities that I might Love like What  One PTLS Member Relation and Great Friend, Faith who passed away was going to teach me to Paddle Board. I would believe that Faith, herself, would still want me to at least try it. (Okay, I really wanted This One to Happen! I really wanted someone who knew Faith and Not just Some Random Teacher. Maybe Faith’s Sister could Teach Me 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! (Not Quite Yet on Either One. Maybe Next Year!)
• And, Finally in The PTLS Front. I Love Geography so I  want to travel more to Spread Awareness about PTLS!  (Actually Visited Two Countries, I was sponsored to go to Germany and Of Course, A Day trip into the Netherlands, marking The 10th Country that I have step foot in!)

So, with that said,Before 2020 comes and We watch The Ball drop, Let’s Re-Live 2019 via what I call “Christian’s Year-In-Review 2019”, My self-produced Year-In-Review.

So, without Further a due, Let’s get started!

So, like all Years We start in January. This Year started Out Oddly and Very Slowly at First. Probably because We were a Little Doubtful about How The Year would go. Got to Build Trust! On January 11th, I made Big Changes to My Made-up City of Christianville where I changed The Name of The City of Steven, Karleen, and A Street on The Neighboring City of Brooke the following, Steven became Paco-Ma, Karleen became McKenna, and The Road Changed was Disney Ave. to Destiny Ave., it became effective on January 23rd. (Refer to “Changes in Christianville” Newsletter)

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 Weather News, On January 30th in The Midwestern US, There was Wind Chills of -40 (Negative 40) in Chicago, Illinois and a Wind Chill of -30s (Negative 30s) in Toledo, Ohio. In The News, Political Story Alert (or PSA!), A Country in Europe called Macedonia changed It’s Name to North Macedonia to end Regional Identity with Greece on January 25th. Long Story, Short. North Macedonia and Greece have been Rivals in The “Macedonia”. Historical Persuasion. Watch The Geography Now Video on either Country for Context! Meanwhile, In Venezuela, on January 24th, There was a “Presidential Crisis”.  

In February, Due to My Mom going to Houston Overnight, I had another Period of Independence in Mid-February. It is always Good to Have those Moments from Time to Time. We had a another Hospital Scare with Grandma Honey the Weekend before Super Bowl 53 in Atlanta. Yes, It was for The Same Reason! Luckily though, It was much Shorter and We were a Little More Prepared This Time. Not a “Family Emergency” This Time! Thank God! Learning The Trust The Year Folks! In The News, All February, (PSA!) Protests because of the Aforementioned “Presidential Crisis” in Venezuela. Love and Good Vibes to You! On February 15th, There was a Shooting a Business in Aurora, Illinois. I am Sorry to say but, There were ALOT of Shootings This Year, I will Try (Keyword Here: Try) to avoid them.

In March (Marzo), It was PTLS Awareness Month! On March (Marzo) 8th, It was The 12th Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Awareness Day! Sad News on a News/Personal Front; A Newscaster of Dallas Area TV Station, WFAA and Genuine Person, John McCaa retired on March 1st. Wow! I can’t believe It has been that Long Already! In The News, on March 10th, Ethiopian Airlines Plane crashes due to Error with Boeing MAX Planes, Pretty Much Grounding MAX Planes for Much of The Year. On March 13th, Social Network, Facebook was Down most of The Day. Needless to say, It freaked People out a little bit!

In April, In Every Family, There is Month where What can go Wrong, will. It does not matter if It is a Good Year or not, It Happens! In April 10th for Example, We had a Water Leak from The Sink in The Kitchen. Needless, The Person that helped tried to Fix The Faucet but, Basically, We had to get a New Sink and Of Course, A Portion of The Laminate Flooring was bent a bit. It was because of a Leak in Pipe from Air-Raider not being routed. Apparently, Air-raiders are Very Important. Me and My Little Boy Dog, Paco had a Low Point while My Mom was doing Conference-Prep, Paco was Sick for a Couple Days. It taught me a Lesson in Taking Care of Paco better. In The News, On April 15th, There was a Fire at The Church of Notre Dame. Yes, If You are thinking of The Reference that I am. (I am thinking of The Hunchback of Notre Dame) Yes it is THAT Notre Dame.

It seems that After The Not-so-Good Luck of April passes, May is When The Year finally starts to Pick Up and Showing Us Awesome Things! From May 22nd to the 28th, We were sponsored to go Germany to have a “PTLS Conference on The Road” known locally as a “PTLS Congress”. The “PTLS Congress” was held in a Suburb of Köln, Germany called Leverkusen. (Refer to “PTLS Congress in Germany” Newsletter).  It was then also that We got to take a Day Trip to Venlo, The Netherlands (My 10th Country) and then, Drove back to Frankfurt. After that, Flying back Home. In The News, In Late May, It was Reported that There was an Unusual Amount of People dying on Mt. Everest, due to a High Amount of People wanting to Climb The Tallest Mountain in The World. On May 28th, (PSA!) There was Elections all across Europe to determine The Future of The European Union.

The Year got Exciting for Me in June because We had Our 5th PTLS Conference. But, This Time, We decided to have it here in Dallas because as We found out, It is much easier for PTLS Family Members to come to Dallas than It is to go to Houston. It is also The 1st Conference that We held in a Different City. It was also exciting because, It was then that I met a New Friend, a Young PTLS Adult whom I refer to on My Newsletter as “M.P Twinee”. In Sports News, The Toronto Raptors from Canada won The NBA Finals with a Near-Ending 1-Point Game on June 13th A First in History as well as on June 11th, St. Louis Blues won their First Stanley Cup. In The News, (PSA!) Protest in Hong Kong, China. Needless to say, that is Very Complicated Situation! Locally, Here in Dallas on June 9th, A Construction Crane collapsed on Apartment due to Strong Winds. 

In July, Things quieted down after The Exciting PTLS Conference! On June 11th, It was Our 25th Year Living in Our Current City of Plano. On July 31st, One of Our Local Malls closed. It was One of The Malls that We would visit Every Now and then when We were Kids. On July 25th, There was a Party for The Closing of The Mall, I was hoping to go with Childhood Friends but It did not happen. In The News, There was a Power Outage in Half of New York City on July 14th. It scared People there because They thought it would be like a City-Wide Blackout like The Last Time Something like that happened. Also, on July 27th, There was a Shooting at a Festival in California.

In August was Another Exciting Time because It was My 32nd Birthday and I celebrated it in Style! I got Quality Time with Grandma Honey on FaceTime; A Drive with My Mom; and, Getting Two of My Best PTLS Friends, “M.P Twinee” and My Lil’ PTLS Sis’, McKenna on FaceTime together at The Same Time on My Birthday for an Hour. On The Same Day, It was also 20 Years since Middle School! I can’t believe that either! In The News, There were Two Mass Shootings in One Day! In El Paso, Texas (Walmart) and Dayton, Ohio (City Center) in August 3rd, respectively. In Disaster News, There was a Volcano Eruption in Italy on August 29th. 

There was Sad News in Our Family in September because We had to Put Our Dog, Zoe (I referred to Her as Zoe Bear) down on September 18th. I thank God oddly because Zoe was in Pain the Week before He passed and Very Thankful for My PTLS Friends who helped me though it. In The News, On September 4th, Hurricane Dorian hits Abaco Island and Grand Bahama Island as a Stalling Category 5 Hurricane causing alot of Damage to The Northern Islands of The Bahamas.

In October, besides My Brother, Michael’s 31st Birthday, It was a “Quiet Month” personally. Sad News in The PTLS Family. A Very Near and Dear Member in Our PTLS Family passed away on October 16th. In The News, On October 8th, US Olympian Simone Biles Won 21st Medal (A Record!) on October 8th. Also, There was a Shooting at a Social Club in Brooklyn, New York on October 12th. 

In November, We took a Much Needed Trip to Atlanta to see Grandma Honey for Thanksgiving. I think that considering that We had not seen Grandma Honey in a While, We figured that It would be a Great Idea to see Her because You can never take Holidays for granted because They may not be around Forever. Also, In Christianville, on November 20th, It was The Second Annual McKenna-Faith Day in Christian’s Best Friends’ Festival. In The News, on November 16th, There was a School Shooting in California on November 15th and Finally, There was a Report of Jewelry Stolen in Germany on November 26th. And, Finally We wrap into December, Yes There were A lot of Events both Political and Mass Events, like Mass Shooting but, Let’s get a Little Break from all that! Now, Of Course, We have already talked about The Harsh Week  couple weeks ago, but Let’s not end on that. Let’s End the Year with an Image. In One Way or Another, I have had Quality Time with the Best of My Friends throughout The Holidays, Whether It was “Camming” with My Lil’ Sis’, McKenna while Hanging out with My Uncle in Atlanta over Thanksgiving; Quality Time over Christmas with My Mom and Brother; or Gift Exchanging with My Best Friend, “M.P Twinee”. 

I will say that It was a Perfect Ending to The Year of 2019.

My Readers, I 

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 Growth, Transition, and Of Course, A Year of Love! 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 Encouraging, Heart Warming and Inspirational Newsletters to come in 2020!

(For the Last Time in 2019)

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. The Spirit that Knows Love!

The Christianville Spirit: A Grinch Gravel Christmas

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

December 18th, 2019- TCS # 667

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 Less Traditional, as This Christmas Season has seemed Less than Traditional. I would be Lying if I did not say that This Christmas Season came Waaay Too Fast. It has to do with The Fact that Thanksgiving was Very Late This Year, causing us to Literally Jump into Christmas! So, For My Christmas Newsletter, I am going to talk about Something that in Context, seems Funny is, if You will pulling Christmas down a little bit. You See, My Mom and I were running Errands, and I figured that I wanted a Wreath for My Front Door, It was Hard to Me, because You don’t want it too Big to Where You can’t see through The Peephole in The Door or Too Small would look, well Too Small. We actually ended up getting a Stocking that looked like an Elf was coming out of It, It was actually really Cute! But, Not The Point. Anyway, I saw several things referred that Good Ol’ Story about How The Grinch Stole Christmas with Signs saying “Merry Grinchmas”, Something about “You know, It is that Time of Year when I (Meaning The Grinch) comes to Town”. Now, I understand that Some People don’t celebrate Christmas or Even that They dread The Christmas Season for Whatever Reason, but Christmas should be a Happy Time of Year, Full of Joy. Now, Yes, Sadly, There are Times when You Miss Someone because They aren’t around either because They live far away or as My Mom says, “They are No Longer on This Earth” and It is The First Christmas without You. Whoever You are, going through that, Friend or Stranger (or Both), I send My Love and Tons of Good Vibes to You. and, Then, Of Course, There are Grinches in Life who try to Ruin The Holiday for You and/or Your Family. For Me, It was that Not-Really-Good-Timed 666 Newsletter before, I kid You not a Full Moon on 12-12 (The Date) at 12:12 AM (The Time, AND a Friday The 13th, All in One Week! and, Add to That that, Again I Kid You Not, An actual Kidney Stone came out of Me! and, I was There to see it Pass. I caught it actually! Talk about a Holy Schnikies! Needless, In My Family as well as in A Very Close PTLS Family Member of Ours’ Family (Heck, They might as well be My Literal, Blood Family). It was a rather Harsh Week Last Week. It was not Bad per se, It was just Harsh. That Dang Grinch tried to Steal Christmas from Me. Not to Sound Texas-y Here but, It Ain’t Happening! My Mom joked with Me last Night that She had Named My passed Kidney Stone, A .5 Centimeter (or 5 Millimeter Stone) that did not cause me Nausea, McJagger. and, Then, She started saying that “Santa Stone was coming to Town. But, I am sure You would rather have Him bring You a Lump of Coal than a Stone”; “How The Grinch Gravel Stole Christmas”; “Santa Kidney Stone coming down The Urethra, bringing Not-So-Much Joy to All”. I might need to make a Christmas Carol out of Those Ideas! All in all, Don’t Let The Grinch Gravel Steal Your Christmas!

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! 

The Christianville Spirit: Making a Positive Out of a Negative Number

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

December 11th, 2019- TCS # 666

Hola, My Readers! It is Hot Down South! Totally Kidding! Oh Yes, It is Time to finally write THAT Newsletter! As a Person who knows about Numbers and Their Meanings, I knew that when I started going into What I call, “The 600 Series”, I knew that This Newsletter, Newsletter 666 was coming sooner or later, like It or not! As This Newsletter got closer, I needed to Seriously Plan The Newsletters ahead of Time so that this Newsletter would not land at a Time when I would not want it to, like My Christmas Newsletter. Actually, If I did not take a Couple of Weeks off, It would have would Landed near Halloween. Oh Lord, God knows that I would not want that to Happen. So, I planned it before Christmas, for Positivity. Little did I realize that Newsletter 666 would happen on The Same Week as Friday The 13th, I Kid You Not! So, My Mom and I figured that I would write This Newsletter in a Positive Manner. So, Every Year usually after My “Christian’s Year-In-Review” Newsletter, I ask People what Should be the Tagline of My Newsletter for The New Year. For as Long as My Newsletter has been around, I have started it with “The Spirit that..” and Then, Something Positive. This Year, I asked People early because of The, In My Mind, Dreaded 666 Newsletter. However, I added a Twist to it! That, PTLS Family Members and Friends were asked about What The Best Thing about Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (or PTLS) and Their PTLS Child. So, The Following are The Responses.

The First is from PTLS Family Member, Karen of The United Kingdom.

“after reading your post the first thing that came to mind about Steven right now was Contentment as he doesn’t seek the need to find happiness he is content within himself .

I spend time thinking up ways to enhance his life to make his life interesting and exciting as he is quite a home body but when a 

 psychiatrist asked him recently what makes him happy Steven replied “ just doing what I do every day “ which to some might seem too little but to him it’s everything , he follows all his tv programmes , he plans his day around them , he sets reminders when new shows are coming up , he knows all the characters and can remember how many shows are in each season , how many seasons have been made and when the next season is being made . 

What it’s made me realize is that everyone’s idea of happiness is not the same but to be content with what you are able to do is pure happiness”

The First was an Emailed Response from a PTLS Family Member that I know Very Well.

So, Here are Some Responses that were Sent via Facebook. For Their Privacy, I won’t mention who The PTLS Family Member is. Enjoy all The Responses and See How My Fellow PTLSers embrace Their PTLS!

“My child is always caring about us, asking how my day went, that he loves me, that I look good.”

“My child is the sweetest. She sees a hint of a tear in my eye and it’s “you ok”? Constantly tells me she loves me “so much” and gives me the best hugs. I’m the only one she will hug that hard. And sometimes she won’t let go until I tickle her. I always ask, “you’ll always be my girl?” She says yes every time. It’s one of the things I love most about her not being a “typical” teenager. She actually likes me!”

“I am faced with the "how was your day" before I can get completely in the door. He senses every emotion and knows when a hug is needed. It can make it a bit of a challenge when I need to have a good cry, and find I have to go hide so he does not worry. My child gives the best hugs. This syndrome brings us such worry, yet all along, they are the ones worrying about us, always wanting us to be happy. Imagine a world filled with the love and care our PTLSers bring us?”

“Isn't it such a joy to know our children make it a nicer place to be. My child brightens up everyone that meets her. People are drawn to her...teachers and people only that have met her are in awe of her. Amazing! And proud she’s mine.”

“My child is very loving. She is always checking to make sure everyone is happy or if they are having a bad day she does everything she can to make it better. She loves to give hugs. She finally understands that she needs to ask before doing this because she wanted to hug people she just met. We have to be careful if we are upset or sad because of how she picks up on our moods. Some days I'm not sure what I would do without her loving greetings!!”

“My child has always stood out as being full of joy and love. Strangers are often drawn to her and amazed at her spirit. Her daycare provider told me that she is the one child that "sees" her. She says when she’s having a rough day she will notice my child staring at her and will go up to her and ask if she needs a hug. She tells her she loves her. Her kindergarten and 1st grade teacher have said the same exact thing. She has always done that with me as well. When other children are having fun or opening up presents, My child is often smiling and giggling enjoying other children have joy, rather than becoming jealous. When her Brothers get hurt, she cries for them as well.”

“My son will rub or pat our back if someone is upset, sad, crying. He’s not much of a hugger, but he will give a hug, too.”

“When my daughter gets in the car after school her first question is how was your day? did you have a good day? What did you do today? And says I missed you all day.”

“I am very blessed that I was chosen to be the mom of such an incredible little girl. She always has a smile to give when others need it. She lives for sharing love. She cries when others are upset. What a gift!”

“My son does not see his diagnosis, even when others talk about it. He does not want to play with others at school, but watches the children play. When another gets hurt, he is the first to get the teachers attention to help. He lives life his way, and I love that!”

I can tell You now, I sense A Lot of Love that Your PTLS Child has for You and Others, as do I Myself. Thank You for All of Your Responses! It Means to A lot to Me! All in all, Us PTLSers have a lot of Love and Joy to Give!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. It is The Season of Joy, See The Joy in Your Child

The Christianville Spirit: A Prelude to Christmas Carols

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

December 4th, 2019-TCS # 665

Happy December, My Readers! Yes, Really! It is actually December! Normally, I would have been Ready for Christmas but, Thanksgiving came in so Quickly and Late This Year! Actually, In All Honesty, Apparently This is the Latest that Thanksgiving will be until 2030. They say that Thanksgiving is always the Fourth Thursday of The Month of November but, This Year’s Thanksgiving, The Fourth Thursday was literally a couple days before December 1st. I also went to Atlanta for a Lovely Thanksgiving as well and We got home on Saturday, The 30th and Then, December 1st, Jumped into Christmas! Quite Literally! Don’t get me wrong, I am Happy that It is December, It is My Most Favourite Time of The Year! But, at The Same Time, December 1st came Waaay too Quickly! Anyway, into The Christmas Spirit We go! So, I realized when I was looking at My “On this Day” Posts on Facebook, I saw that I wrote a Really Funny and Witty Newsletter as My “Happy December” Newsletter last year. I figured that It was So Good that I would Share it again because It was that Funny! Happy December, Everyone! Hope that You are Ready!

Before I get to My Newsletter, Every Year It is a Tradition here at The Christianville Spirit that on January 1st, I always choose a New Tagline for The New Year. This Year, I am doing My Traditional Request Early! Along with a Little Something New! 

PTLS Family Members and Friends, I would like to ask for You to Email Me with Your Tagline Suggestions and/or What is Something Positive that You see in Your Child with PTLS? Email at thechristianvillespirit@gmail.com 

This Newsletter was Originally Written on December 4th of 2018 (Refer to Newsletter 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!

The Christianville Spirit: The Day of Giving Thanks

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

November 27th, 2019-TCS # 664

Hello My Wonderful Readers and Happy Thanksgiving! 

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, as Last Year taught us that You need to Reflect on What You are Thankful for and Realize that It is always On The Surface Things! I am Thankful for Example that Yes, Potocki-Lupski Syndrome may be Hard to say and Yeah, It’s not Perfect living with it But, Let Me tell You, It is The Biggest Blessing in The World to Me. To be Able to not only Travel via Sponsored Trips like I have always wanted to but, I get to Meet all of The Awesome and Brilliant PTLS Family Members that sometimes, up until Now have been Names on Facebook or Faces on a Computer Screen. For Example, During The Sponsored Trip to Germany, We met PTLS Family Member, Nathalie Foppen from The Netherlands. We had known Each Other via Facebook for 10 Years and This Year, We finally met! That is What I call an Accomplishment! I also got to Cross an International Border within The Schengen Area in Europe. For a Geography Lover like Myself, that is Astounding!

Of Course, I am Thankful for All the PTLS Family Members, Friends and Family! Like I said Last Week, I am thankful that I met My Lil’ PTLS Sis’, McKenna a couple years ago and This Year, met a New Friend, whom I have a Strong Friendship Connection with “M.P Twinee” I am Very Thankful for That as Well. And, Finally Always remember to be Thankful for Our Own Family because There are Several PTLS Children who will be spending The Holidays without Their Parents and/or Grandparents because They passed away these Past Couple Months. So, Always be Thankful, which I am Every Day! In Honor of Being Thankful, I am going to Rerun a Brilliant Newsletter that explains How to be Thankful!

This Newsletter was Originally Written on November 23rd of 2016 (Refer to Newsletter 521)

Happy Thanksgiving, My Readers! Yes, I know that it is technically Thanksgiving Eve but, I thought that I would wish you a Happy Thanksgiving anyway. 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? Yeah, I could do a Thanksgiving without seeing The “Giblets” coming out of The Turkey, to me, It is Nasty. Now, I am sure that some of you would consider the “Giblets” a Delicacy or The Best Part, Nope! Not Me! Anyway, 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. and, Don’t get me wrong, Folks! Those Things are Great to be Thankful for, How about What are You Truly Thankful for? Well, as for Me, I am Truly Thankful for My PTLS Family, My Mom & Brother, The Smith Family, and Of Course, You, My Readers. I am Thankful that as mentioned in Last Week’s Newsletter and Several Times This Year that I got to Finally meet Lynee’s Family and Help them (and, Myself) in a Way find both Ourselves, and Lynee herself, in The Process. I am thankful that My Grandma Honey moved in Her New Place unscathed (Relatively, anyway) and We No Longer have to Worry about Her falling down The Stairs, and Finally, As Life has taught me Recently, You have to be Thankful for..well..Life. Funny, It is Easy to think (in Super Hero Voice) “I am Invincible and Nobody can Harm Me! (or Friends of Mine for That Matter)” As I mentioned about My Brother last week, He was feeling down. It is because One of His Best Friends, Cameron, went Rock Climbing last week and Fell 100 Feet (Yes, really 100 Feet!) without a Helmet and is to say the least, Pretty Badly Damaged, It was surprising that He survived the First Night after The Fall. Kinda sent me a Hard Reminder that One, that could have been My Brother, Two, that One time I watched My Brother Rock Climb Indoors (Refer to the “Great Wolf Lodge” Newsletter) and My Brother fell, He only fell maybe 15 Feet or so and Came out of it only with a Body Ache and a Bop on The Head. It could have been so much worse. and, Then, A Relative of a PTLS Family Member, one that We held Very Dearly as well as, She held us Very Dearly, Passed Away the other day. She was One of Brilliance, and I use the word in This Context VERY Lightly. She, Her Name was Faith, was in a Word, a Queen (A Hero of Many Sorts!) Of helping My Mom and Her Own Daughter raise Awareness for PTLS. She even Showcased a Shirt with Her Own Design, with The PTLS Logo as well as Permission to do so, at Her Church. Her Favorite, of Course, was One that was Mainly Pink with The PTLS Logo on it. Pink and Green, that was her motto! I would believe that She has Heaven painted Pink and Green by Now. Now, Yeah, I don’t like to think about These kind of Stats, but People are Born or Pass Away Everyday, even on Holidays. It sounds Sad and Depressing, but It is true. So, It shows me a Lesson that really, Anything can happen at Anytime. Hence to be Truly Thankful for Your Family, Your Friends, and Your Life as well as The Lives of Others because Everyone’s Life Matters to Someone and That is The Way it should be. Even those People who Annoy You, or Could Care Less about, Their Life Matters in Some Odd Way. And, all in all, Finally, I am Thankful to Someone who hurt me badly in The Past who extended an “Olive Branch” to Me and My Mom This Year as well I have extended an “Olive Branch” to Other People in My Own Life.  

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Be Thankful for Everything around You.

The Christianville Spirit: Christian's Best Friends' Festival Explained

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

November 20th, 2019-TCS # 663

Happy McKenna-Faith Day, My Readers! Strange Greeting This Time! I am on a Roll apparently! So, What is “McKenna-Faith Day”? Well, If You Know Me, You have heard about This, Every Year that They have known me. For Those who don’t know what I am talking about. I will explain. So, Around this time every year, I have a Festival from November 16-20 called Christian’s Best Friends’ Festival. What is Christian’s Best Friends’ Festival, You ask? I like to tell people that It’s My Way of thanking the friends that I have. You See, In my made-up City of Christianville (Hence the name of This Newsletter and Where it is from), I have this festival in which is spread out over 5 Days, with “Days” to honor my Friends and on these days I have a theme for them which includes the things that they like. So, That explains The Best Friend’s Festival but, not about McKenna-Faith Day. Well, to be fair, Since The Beginning of “Christian’s Best Friends’ Festival”, Today was known formerly as “Steven Day”, In the Re-run of a Newsletter that I am going to Share shortly, You will see it. Well, Long Story Short, Steven was a Friend of Mine, He was actually My Best Friend from High School. For Lack of a Better Way of Phrasing This, He was Waaay into Tigger, Yeah that Tigger, The One from Winnie and The Pooh and He sort of went into What I refer to as “His Own World” and I have not heard from Him in a Long Time. So, I decided to Choose it to a lot more Solid Name that I would not have to Change. In 2017, I announced it on Facebook saying The Following,

“Official Announcement: Steven Day will now be McKenna-Faith Day (Honoring My Lil' PTLS Sis, McKenna and To honor My Angel Cabinet Member, Faith Thompson (Director of PTLS Family Members)” Today was The Day that in 2016, PTLS Family Member Relation, Faith Thompson passed away and I referred to The Day itself, not relating to The Festival yet as “Faith Day”. But, Then, I figured, why don’t I make a Fun Day. My Lil’ PTLS Sis’, McKenna loves Pajamas and Plus, She might as well be Family to Me, Literally and Figuratively. Like We have a lot of Similarities in Family background. Probably a Story for another Time. I digress. So, I thought Why not honor both McKenna and Faith, sounds like a Perfect Mixture! It was only been around a Year and It is already My Favourite Day besides Michael Day, of Course. I mean, really, Who couldn’t resist a Christianville Metro Wide “PJ Holiday”, a “PJ Party” at The Festival, and a Pink, Purple, and PTLS Event, basically Morphing both Faith’s Color of Pink and McKenna’s of Purple and Of Course, The One thing that Makes them in Common, Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (or PTLS). Sounds a Day that People would really Enjoy! Anyway, Happy McKenna-Faith Day! So, This is a Portion of a Newsletter about How The Best Friend Festival works in My Mind and Then, I will do a Full Re-Run about The Festival!  

This Portion of a Newsletter was written on November 21st of 2012 (Refer to Newsletter 326)

For You, PTLS Parents, I would like to explain how I celebrate this. First, I have it marked on all my calendars, saying either “Christian’s Best Friends‘ Festival” or the festival Name and who’s day it is. The night before, I put up “Day Markers” that tell me who’s day it is on the wall. The Morning of, I wake up and I make the announcements in my head, which is like talking on the radio, of all the festivities and the sounds that go with it (like Cheering, The Band, The Sounds of the Doors Opening as the people walk through them, The Voice of the announcer on the street, announcing “Ladies and Gentlemen...”). Again, In My Head, I listen to the Christianville Radio Station,     97.9 WPSKI (call letters meaning Potocki-LupSKI), on this Radio Station, they have a Morning Show from 7-9AM called “What’s Going On Here?!?!”, with the Tag Line, “Christianville’s News & Laugh Show”. Every Day but, Friday, they say, “Good Morning, Christianville! Today is (says Day and Date) and Here’s Your News” and on Fridays, they say in an excited way, “Gooooood Morning, Christianville!!, It’s Friiiidddayyy!”. From there, they tell you the news which includes what’s going on in the Best Friends‘ Festival.

Back to Present Day Me for Second, Here comes The Full Re-Run explaining about The Best Friends Festival!

This Newsletter was Originally written on November 17th of 2010 (Refer to Newsletter 225)

For those You who really know me, You know that I celebrate the friends annually via a made-up festival in My City of Christianville. So, For Those of You who don’t, Let me explain. You See, back in 2005 around the same time The Christianville Spirit started, I also created a Festival in Christianville called Christian’s Best Friends’ Festival which I designed to be held from November 16-20 on Friends Street in Downtown Christianville. Anyway, on each day during the festival, I made the day about that person and it would be my version of honoring them. Now, I chose those dates because it was close to Thanksgiving and The Holiday Season(which is my favorite time of year) So, the first day of Christian’s Best Friends’ Festival is called Michael Day, honoring my brother. The first thing that happens, is the City of Christianville Band comes through like a parade and opens The Festival Doors, which are big Doors below the stage, and represents the festival’s opening and closing. Following that, They introduce The US Flag, Tennessee Flag, and City of Christianville Flag, this represents Christianville’s place in Tennessee. After the City of Christianville Band has passed, They present the Friends that I made that year on the stage above the “Festival Doors”. This Year’s Friends presented includes Amy and David Taylor, JJ, Rick Garland, Pam Tate, Chris Norris, Georgette Black, Kelli (My Mom’s Boss), and Several Members of My PTLS Family. Anyway, After that comes a parade honoring my brother called “The Parade of Michael Centeno”. The next day, November 17 is Brooke Day, honoring my childhood friend, Brooke. For Brooke Day, They have a Fair called “Christian Smith-Centeno and Brooke Herrick Fair” which unlike the other days are on Friend Street. This Fair is in the city I named after her, called Brooke, which is up the road from Christianville. This Fair has ferris wheels, slides, and everything to do with Soccer. Following Brooke Day, on November 18 is Meredith Day which honors My Brothers and I’s Childhood friend, Meredith Herrick. for this day, They have a fair called “Meredith’s Fun Day”. This time, The fair is on Friends Street. This Fair has Ferris wheels, Spinning Rides, Slides, and Roller Coasters. The next day, November 19 is called Whitney Day which honors our childhood friend, Whitney Herrick. For Whitney Day, which for a lot of people in The Christianville Area is their favorite day because they have an event called “Wacky Whitney’s Play in Downtown Day” which mean they close the streets in Downtown Christianville, so people can walk all the streets and hang out. Now, if your wondering how I came up with the name, “Wacky Whitney”. Back when living at Mr. Jeff’s House(by the way, Mr. Jeff is the guy My M0m dated and was going to marry at the time) when jumping on the trampoline Whitney would be really funny and she was so funny that she called herself “Wacky Whitney” and that is how I came up with that name. The final day of the festival, November 20 is Steven Day, which is in honor of My Best Friend, Steven Vandeneyekel. For Steven Day, They close the Festival with a Parade called “The Tigger Parade” because he loves Tigger and He always will. After the Parade, they close “Festival Doors” and that’s the end of Christian’s Best Friends‘ Festival for the year. By the way, after the festival ends, Steven Day is a metro-wide holiday. All in all, Christian’s Best Friends‘ Festival is my way of honoring the friends I have and showing them I do cherish them.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Maybe We should consider having a real-life Festival like this. So, Cherish your Friends

The Christianville Spirit: An Inquiry Seen Through My Mind

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

November 13th, 2019- TCS # 662

Happy Week, My Readers! Yes, Folks! A Rather Strange Greeting This Week! So, It is Inquiry Week and not that I want to get into Politics but, I want to Talk about an Inquiry of My Own. Let’s Call It, “Friends v. More than Friends”. There is a Girl in My Life who I have a Feeling, Likes Me even though She says that We are Friends. Truth be told, Yes I like her too. But, I figured that on a Week that is dealing with Negative Inquiries, What about Positive Inquires. So, Journey into My Mind to Where I have been Thinking about. Okay, so If You have read My Newsletters, You know that I have a Creative Imagination! So, Follow with Me here. I believe that Every Person has a State or Province with a State Capitol. Except for Me, Of Course that has My City of Christianville made up to be in Tennessee. In Most People’s Case, Their State and State Capitol sound like This My Mom for Example is Julieville, Julie. My Brother’s in Michaelville, Michael. You Get The Idea! I have come up with State Capitol Examples for Everyone I have met! In Fact, More Times than I can count I have made Maps for People including One of My Ex-Girlfriends and Of Course, My Best Friend, Karleen. So, Obviously, Then You start to ask, What is My State a part of? In My Old Mind, It used to be that Your State was Your State, that was It. It was not until I made a Map for My Grandma Honey, that I thought What do States belong to? They belong, of course to What I call a “Family Country”. In Other Words, A “Family Country” is a Collection of States that make up a Country. Of Course, If I am talking about a PTLS Family Member, Then A “Family Country” is part of A Group of Family Countries called “The PTLS Union”. Basically think of the European Union but Much Much Cooler. Anyway, Recently because the Girl that is in My Life, I have had to think about What is Beyond The Family Country? Oh Boy! This is where It gets Interesting! When It comes to I guess, for Now We can call it a “More than Friendly” Interest comes What I call, ‘The Admissions Process.” This “Admissions Process” basically means that You are on Your Way to eventually becoming Part of The Family. Right Now, I am Generally Speaking. The First Step of This “Admissions Process” is, of course What I call The “Admissions Inquiry”. Now that I think about It, because being an Old-Fashioned Guy like I am, Where You are not just Marrying The Person, You are Marrying Their Family Members and Like or it, Their Stuff. Anyway, To Explain This, Think of This like Applying for a Job. The Admissions Inquiry, which happens Both Ways, meaning to Each Other’s Family, is like Applying for A Job. The Inquiry Itself usually goes to The Admissions Official, usually a Brother or Sister, whoever is The Most Trusted of The Family. Next comes, The Waiting Period. The Processing of It All. Processing The “Application”. Now, While This is happening, of course, You can change your Mind and Turn Around but, Before Your Admissions Inquiry or Job Application goes through. I remember I applied for a Job at Hobby Lobby and Changed My Mind back after High School. I digress. Then, of Course, comes The Hardest and Scariest Part, What I call The Admissions Exam. Again, in Career Terms, This is like the Interview. Some Family Countries or Companies are Easy; Apply for The Job, Interview literally a Couple Days after, Are You Truly Interested in This Job?; and Of Course, Finally, The Hand Shake, You got The Job! Easy, right? Well, My Grandma Honey would probably join me in Saying This, ‘The Easy Things are not Usually Worth It. The Hard Things get You a Bigger Reward”. The Harder Family Countries, My Family Country, The Smith Family States being one of Them, is a lot more Difficult to get into. In The Harder Family Countries; It is like Apply For The Job, You are asked more than one time “Are You Sure?”(More than One Time), First Interview, Drug Test/Background Screening (Need I say more!); Second Interview, maybe even Third Interview; and, Finally, Okay Son or Ma'am, You did The Work! You get The Job! I have heard People tell me that Being with Someone or Even Falling in Love is like a Job Interview. Boy, Now that makes sense Now doesn’t It?! Now, The Funny Thing that You may think that The Person may Fail The Family Exam, or The Career Interview and They end up Passing and Of Course, It can go Vice Versa. You kind of have to go with The Theory that Whatever is Meant to be, will Be because that is How Destiny Works apparently, Whether You planned for It or Not. All in all, If All Else fails, that Person will always be a Great Friend and There is Nothing Wrong with That.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Just being Friends or Being part of a Family can be Complicated!