The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Gives Hope
December 27th, 2018- TCS # 716
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! Seriously, Wow! When I say “What a Year”, For The First Major Time in My Life, I meant it! I say “What A Year” Every Year but, Good Lord Man! It seems only fitting that The Year of 2020 is according to The Lunar/Zodiac Calendar or What We refer to as “Chinese New Year”, 2020 was The Year of The Rat! I have No Idea why They think that an Animal like a Rat is Lucky, but Unfortunately, That is not for Me to decide. Oh Well, What can You do? In Case You are Wondering, The Last Year of The Rat was in 2008 and The Next One will be in 2032, in 12 Years as There are 12 Animals in The Lunar/Zodiac Calendar. Next Year, by the way, is The Year of The Ox. Prefer, “Oxen”, It sounds cooler. I would be Lying if I did not say that I had a Rough Year. As well as, Everyone Else who had a Rough Year. So, As Much as We want to scream Happy New Year, We have to Review This Year before We can move on. So, The One thing that We definitely needed in This Crazy Year was Something that I tried My Best to Provide, Hope. That was not only This Year’s Tagline and Theme but, This Year unlike Any other Year, We really needed it!
The Tagline and Theme of 2020 is The Spirit that Gives Hope! This Year’s Tagline is credited to PTLS Family Member, Sally Morgan. So, First Thing that We need to Review is Something that I do Every Year, which is My Goals of The Year which I always set with Love, Heart, and Most Importantly, Hope. I explained the Following to Explain The Process.
So, Every Year Now, I come up with Goals with Love, Heart, and Of Course, with Hope. I have Learned that You can plan Goals and Destiny at The Time, says “Not Yet”. So, Maybe I should have My Goals more toward Where I want or Believe that Destiny wants me to go. I will still have My Goals but, This Year I am Letting My Angel Director of Destiny and Of Course, My Guardian Angel lead The Way because They know Where I am headed and Not what I want but, What I need! Now, Because of “The Dreaded Coronavirus” and Other Things, I am Sad to report that I could not accomplish This Year’s Goals.
So, Here were My 2020 Goals with Love and Hope in My Heart!
I know, I said This Last Year and I am working on It but 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! Director of Destiny, “Ma Take The Wheel” with This One! (This One hit me The Hardest. I was working on it quite Well. I basically Fell and Eventually, Breaking in Love in The Later Beginning of The Year. So, Perhaps 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! (Maybe Next Year. But, I do have a New Term for it. Romantic Person)
Remember that I am not Perfect, I don’t need to be Perfect and Don’t need Perfect! I Need to be Perfect for Me! (Okay, Perhaps I did actually work on This Goal! So, Maybe I did not Fail all My Goals!)
Maybe have Faith’s Daughter teach me to Paddle Board. I would believe that Faith, herself, would still want me to at least try it. (Faith, I am Sorry but, Again, Perhaps Next Year)
And, Finally in The PTLS Front. I Love Geography so I want to travel more to Spread Awareness about PTLS. I Really hope to make It to Italy This Year! That would be a Dream come true! Of Course, Can’t Forget about Spreading Hope to PTLS Family Members and Friends! (I am Marking the Spreading Hope Part as a Completed Goal! I did The Best I could. The PTLS Travel Failed Epically because of The Dreaded Coronavirus)
So, Generally, Most of These Goals have been moved to The Year of 2021. I believe that I will have Much Better luck Next Year! 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 2021.
So, with that said, Before 2021 comes and We excitedly watch The Ball drop, Let’s Re-Live 2020 via what I call “Christian’s Year-In-Review 2020”, My self-produced Year-In-Review.
So, without Further adieu, Let’s get started!
So, like all Years We start in January. So, We begin This Year as The Opening to a New Decade. Now, Of Course, We know This Year was Crazy and Therefore, I will Share some of The Crazy Things as well as Good Things. For Me anyway, This Year started well. On January 23rd, I got to have Quality Time with PTLSer, Stacy (I like to refer to her as “The 2nd OG PTLSer” (Modern Speak for “Original as They as Come”). Anyway, She and Her Friend, Rebecca had a Volleyball Tournament in Mansfield (Southeast of Fort Worth) and We went down to see them in action and have Dinner with Them. It was really fun! On January 20th at 8:20 AM/PM at 20 Seconds, It was Equal to 20 (Hours), 20 (Minutes), 20 (Seconds) in The Year 2020! Once in a Lifetime Event!
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.** A Very Sad Moment in US Sports History where Basketball Star, Kobe Bryant passed away via a Helicopter Crash on January 26th. In Health News, which There will be a lot of This Year considering “The Dreaded Coronavirus”. This Virus started spreading from Wuhan, China on January 21st.
In February, Was a Very Personal Event that turned The Year 2020 into a Sour Year. A lot of People will tell you that It was around This Time when The Year started going downhill. In My Records, I refer to This Event as An “Admission’s Process Fail” (Refer to The “Inquiry seen through My Mind” Newsletter for an Explanation about What that term means). Either Way, It caused Great Breaking in My Heart. But, Ya Know, in some way, I will always love her. At Same Time, I was having Minor Kidney Stone during that Same Time as well. Meanwhile, In The News, while The “Dreaded Virus” was spreading Faster, It was The Beginning of The Year of Rat in The Lunar Calendar. Funny isn’t it? In Other News, Political Story Alert! (PSA!) US President Donald Trump was acquitted of Impeachment on February 5th.
March (Marzo) was Oddly a Blessing in Disguise in Some Way! First of all, It was 13th Annual Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Awareness Month! As well as The 13th PTLS Awareness Day on March (Marzo) 8th. PTLS Green was spread everywhere! PTLS Awareness was spread! Monica and I’s Expat Friend, Heidi helped spread awareness while She was in Peru on PTLS Awareness Day on March 8th. It was a Blessing that PTLS Day was, when It was because, Due to The Dreaded Coronavirus, “Social Distancing” started on March 13th! Seriously! Talk about a Near Miss! I call that a Blessing in Disguise! In The News, Fear and It’s Partner, “Fear Mongering” took over Before and After PTLS Awareness Day where People were Panic-Buying everything from Toilet Paper to Hand Sanitizer. Rationale People just told People to “Wash Your Hands”. Simple Enough but, This Case, It did not work completely. On March 15th, Things started to Close! Everything from Cruises, Airlines, and Work started to Shut Down! Never before in My Life, have I seen that!
Myself and My PTLS Gang of Adults started April by Video chatting with Each Other for My Friend “M.P Twinee”’s Birthday. The Whole PTLS Gang was There! I felt like we pulled off a Miracle! On The 12th Lighthouse Day of Popi’s (My Grandma on My Mom’s Side), I honored him by taking him on a Cyber-trip through Cascais, Portugal. Both of Us Loved It! On a Personal Level, “April Blues” hit My Little Boy Dog, Paco by Him having a Sprain on His Leg. Poor Paco! In The News, while The Planet Pluto started It’s Retrograde on April 25th on April 6th, There was a Fire at Florida Southwest Intl’ Airport. Sad News in Nova Scotia as a Man dressed as a Police Officer does a Shooting on April 18th.
May was an Important Month for My Cousin Olivia who graduated on May 30th. My Mom and I got to watch it via a Live Stream, The High School provided. Since Marzo, Kids had to go to School online via a Service called Zoom. A lot of Kids, Parents, and Teachers had to get Very Familiar with Zoom. It was called “Mobile Learning”. Sad News in My Family as on May 25th, My Grandma on My Dad’s side, whom We referred to as “Bella '' passed away. She had A lot Health Issues including a Stroke. I will miss her Yummy Puerto Rican Rice Dish that She made! In The News, Something that really freaked us out happened. “Murder Hornets” (Bigger and Stronger than a Bee) arrived on The West Coast from Japan on May 4th. Another Thing to add to The Fear List, on top of The Dreaded Virus! In Mid-May, Sad News hit a Texas Military Base where There was a Shooting. It proved to us that Not even Military Bases are Safe!
June was a Better Month, Lockdowns were Easing in The US a little bit. It was enough that I got to have a little Quality Time with Lynee’s Sister, Jona. She was actually The First Person I hugged Post-Lockdown! I considered it while an Honour on both of Our Parts! On June 27th, Myself and The PTLS Gang had to do what I call a “Coronavirus Edit” of what should have been a Get-Together. We did it via Zoom and It was really fun to do! On June 6th, My Mom and I celebrated Sweden’s National Holiday, National Day or Otherwise known as “Sveriges nationaldag” with Swedish Meatballs, Swedish Soda, and Of Course, A Swedish Flag at The Dinner Table. It was Awesome to Celebrate another Country’s Holiday like that! In The News, (PSA!) Police Protests started in both Minnesota and Atlanta, as well as Other Parts of The Country and It lasted pretty much all Month of June. Other than That, a Shooting in San Antonio, TX on June 12th and a Brush Fire in Arizona on Literally The Same Day! 2020 Occurrences get more and more frequent as We go on!
At This Point in The Dreaded Virus Saga, Restaurants are open at 50 Percent and There is a Mask Requirement now. As We have Reached The Mid-Year Point of July Because of “Social Distancing” Most Places had to Cancel their Fourth of July Holiday Events. So, A lot of Places did Live Streaming of Fireworks. My Mom and I watched a Local one on YouTube. It was Very Different but Enjoyable in Some Way. In The News, Besides Shootings and Protests; American Football Team, The Washington Redskins changed their Name to The “Washington Football Team”. I prefer the previous name, It sounded Cooler and A lot more Original of a Name. Just My Two Cents.
Now, We come into August (Aka “My Birth Month”)! After My Birthday when I turned 33 Years old; I got a New Computer, a Google Chrome that I call “Homie Chrome-y" on August 19th. I did not realize how much change and work, it would be to go from Mac to Chrome. In total, it took at least 2 Weeks to get adjusted and get everything transferred over. At The Same Time, My Brother gave me his Old IPhone, so I had to adjust from a Low-Tech Phone (Which I liked) to an IPhone. Lots of Adjustments in a Short Time! In The News, It was Crazy with 2020 Events! A Giant Explosion on August 4th. Not One but, TWO Hurricanes in The Gulf of Mexico, roughly a Week apart. Hurricanes Marco and Laura respectively hit The Coast of Louisiana. Marco was not much. However, Hurricane Laura? Oh Boy! It was The Strongest Hurricane to hit Southwest Louisiana and Lake Charles area in History! It hit as a Category 4 Hurricane! Seriously! Record-Breaking! But, We have not even gotten close yet!
Okay, At This Point, We have reached September. In The Dreaded Virus Saga, Restaurants are Open at 75 Percent Now. This did depend on Where You Lived, but This was for where I lived. In Mid-September, The PTLS Gang got together for Celebrate My Lil’ PTLS Sis’, McKenna’s 18th Birthday on Zoom! That is A lot of Fun for Everyone to be able to Celebrate with Her. Also around This Time, It was Also, It was 5 Years This Year since The First PTLS Sponsored Trip to Stockholm, Sweden and London, United Kingdom! I know. I Can’t believe it either! In My Family, September 17th was The First Anniversary of Our Dog, Zoe Bear being put down. In The News, Sad News in The United States as US Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg (or RBG) passed away on September 18th. They say She was a Powerful Woman but, One Thing is for Sure, She was Legendary! In Weather News, Hurricane Sandy (Category 2) hit The Alabama Coast on September 16th. I am Sad that It hit there but, I am Glad that It did not hit New Orleans!
Now We come into The Month of October, When My Brother turned 32 Years old. Personally, on October 4th, It was My 14th Year of Writing! Believe it or not, Next Year in 2021, It will be My 15th Year of Writing! Wow! What a Milestone that will be! In The News, PSA! Political Story Alert! It was starting on October 10th, when Conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia started. It was not Good what was going on between them and It kind of stayed between them. Most of The World did not hear about it that much. So, on Weather News, Two Huge Records were broken! Two more Hurricanes hit The State of Louisiana and One Hurricane hit nearly The Same Area as Hurricane Laura did. Hurricane Delta (Greek Name. Category 2) hit Southwest Louisiana, just like Hurricane Laura did. It was also Record-Breaking because It was the 10th Hurricane to Hit The US and 3rd Hurricane to Louisiana, in 1 Year! Yes, Really! On October 28th, Hurricane Zeta (Another Greek Name. Category 2) actually did hit New Orleans this Time! It did not cause as much damage but, It was The 11th Hurricane to Hit The US in One Year. A Record that is Amazing to Break!
Now, We reach November. One Last Check of Dreaded Virus Saga but, Restaurants are Open at 75 Percent, however Bars (At Least in Texas anyway) had to Close because Cases were going up again. This Year, as I mentioned a Few Weeks ago was The 15th Annual “Christian’s Best Friend Festival”. It was a Big Event in My Made-Up City of Christianville! It was not Cancelled but, Face Shields and Hand Washing were Recommended. Over All though, It went Very Well! Also, in Christianville, It was 15 Years since The First “Unofficial” Edition of The Christianville Spirit on November 1st. In The News, Outside of The US Election; On November 2nd, There was a Shooting in Vienna, Austria, which was a Shocker to Everyone! That is shooting that never has happened before in Austria!
And, Finally, We wrap into 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 think that We have had Enough of The News, Negativity, Hearing about Virus with It’s Masks, Social Distancing, Fear, and More.. I think that We have had enough of 2020 and Honestly, 2021 can not come any sooner. But, Let’s End The Year with an Imagine. But, The PTLS Gang and I had a Nice Last Zoom Get-Together of The Year. We talked about Various Things including The Goods and The Bads of This Year, What We have Learned, and Of Course, What We hope for in The New Year. I will tell you this, There is nothing better than Laughing with Your PTLS Peers for upwards of 7 Hours, The Longest that All of Us have ever Video Chatted before. Oddly, I got to Thank the Quarantine Gods because We would not have had So Much Fun with Each Other if Things were back to Normal. I thank The Quarantine Gods that My Mom has been Home a lot more, which has helped Our Mother-Son Relationship and Have Greater Understanding of The Other’s Lives. I thank The Quarantine Gods that I got to hug Lynee’s Sister, Jona for The First Time in a Long Time! And, as Crazy as it sounds, Perhaps as My PTLS Friend, Alyson told us, “Perhaps, We needed a Break from Everything” and Perhaps, She is Right. The Air is a lot cleaner and The Water is cleaner as well, I Mean, Venice, Italia’s Canals now have Clear Water now! So, Yes, We needed this Break in some Around-about-Way, if that Makes any sense. Perhaps, It did bring Families a little closer, Friends a little closer, and Kids a little closer. I bet you that Your Kid will be literally jumping up in The Air at the Thought of going back to School. So, all in all, Yes, It was a Beyond Rough and Crazy Year, but Oddly, We came back stronger than before! And, What is Better than That?!
It was Year of Growth, Some Hardships, Learning, and Of Course, A Year of Hope! But, I genuinely hope that You, My Readers, had a Good Year and Hope for an Even Better Year Next Year. And, I can’t wait to see you back here for Another Year of Encouraging, Heart Warming and Hopeful Newsletters to come in 2021!
(For The Last Time in 2020 Anyway)
Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. The Spirit that Brings Hope!
