Merry Christmas!!!!

I know today is Christmas Eve, but since I’m not sure I’ll have a chance to post anything tomorrow I’d like to take a minute to wish all of you out there a very Merry Christmas from all of us here at I’m just sayin….

Before we get to my favorite part of my Christmas Eve post, I’d like to take a minute to tell everyone how thankful I am. I know we think of Thanksgiving as being the “thankful” holiday, but I think it works at Christmas too. So let’s get to it…

I think when we look at the world we tend to think that everyone else has had the same experiences as us. At least until we meet people and find out their life is different. Times like this can help show us how lucky we are. I, perhaps, am the luckiest of all. Why? Because I’ve got a great family that I love. It’s something that I’ve always taken for granted, but the older I get the more I realize everyone doesn’t love their family. I realize how lucky I am that I love and enjoy being with my wife, daughters, son, Godson, parents, siblings, nieces and nephew, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, out-laws and so on and so forth. I was also lucky enough to know and love my grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles and a good many “distant” cousins. I’ve come to find that a lot of people struggle to find one person in their family that they like… my cup runneth over. I have parents who raised me in a loving Christian home. They taught me right and wrong and then let me make my own mistakes. I’m close enough with them that I talk to them almost every day. I’ve got an older brother who I can talk to just about whenever I want… sometimes just a quick 5 minute call… sometimes an hour long call (that Sonny can talk your ears off once he gets going). Better yet, there are times he’ll call me… for no reason except to talk about one thing or another. I’ve got a sister who at least feels bad for seldom answering my calls and hardly ever calling me back, and never just calling me out of the blue… but when we do talk she tells me I’m funny and that she loves my blog (even though she knows The Wife hates it when people say things like that to me). There was a time when my favorite part of Christmas was opening gifts (mainly my gifts). Now, the thing I look forward to the most is seeing my family. And we haven’t even gotten to my friends. I’ve got the greatest in the world. They laugh with me (or at me… the point is the laugh), they pray for me, they share their joys with me, they play along with me when I act like a big shot… sure, they like me a little more after our trip to the lake house, but that’s understandable.

So thank you to all of my friends and family. I love you, one and all.

I will now leave you with something I love...



I know that some of you are not able to view the videos I post on here, so I’ll type what was in that video. It had a letter to the editor of the New York Sun from a little 8 year old girl named Virginia that was written in the late 1890s. One of the paper’s editors, Francis P. Church, answered with what would become one of (if not THE) most famous editorials. First, here is the letter to the editor:

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON
115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET

Here’s the response from Mr. Church:

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

The I’m just sayin... Football Predictions Results

NFL
Pittsburgh vs. St. Louis – 1:00pm (FOX) – The Steelers are looking to bounce back from a loss this past Monday at San Francisco. The good news is this is a day game so I don’t think we’ll have to worry about the sun going out like the lights in San Francisco kept doing. My boss will be at this game and I told him in no uncertain terms not to bother coming back to work if St. Louis wins. Ok, I haven’t been working for him long enough to actually say that out loud… but that’s what I was thinking when I told him to have fun. Now that I think about it, I did say “Have fun at the game… and by ‘have fun’ I mean ‘I hope the Steelers win’”. He understood. With Big Ben hurt, I’m not sure if he’ll play. Still, I’m picking Pittsburgh to win this game.

Miami at New England – 1:00pm (CBS) – I’m picking New England to win this game.

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

First Lieutenant/Regimental Quartermaster John W. Clark (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 28, 1863 near Warrenton, Virginia. His citation reads:

Defended the division train against a vastly superior force of the enemy; he was severely wounded, but remained in the saddle for 20 hours afterward until he had brought his train through in safety.

Private Wilfred Clark (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on August 9, 1877 at Big Hole, Montana and on August 20, 1877 at Camas Meadows, Idaho. His citation reads:

Conspicuous gallantry, especial skill as sharpshooter.

Corporal William A. Clark (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on February 15, 1863 at Nolensville, Tennessee. His citation reads:

Was one of a detachment of 16 men who heroically defended a wagon train against the attack of 125 cavalry, repulsed the attack and saved the train.