My daughter, Crystal, got engaged. She’s a psychological therapist, treating children and he’s a special education teacher. Rick asked for my blessing the day before Christmas Eve and I was happy to give it because he loves her and I know he will protect and take care of her the way all dads want for their daughters.   They’ve been sweathearts since high school and have survived college and masters degrees.  We are proud and happy to have Rick as part of our family.  We’re all very close, my daughter brought me every joy I could ever have and now she brought the son I never had.

At our family Christmas, I wanted to take a picture of them, and Rick was pretending he was yawning, Crystal didn’t like it. He’s gonna be fun.

Crystal shows the ring to her aunt and poses with her grandmom.

Families are able to have good times together because our troops, past and present, sacrifice their time and lives for us. We always remember that.

I got a Snuggie and a pair of sunglasses that you wear over your glasses.  The snuggie came with a book light.

They were just what I wanted.

I hope everyone got what they wanted and were able to celebrate with family and friends.  Here’s a picture of me and my daughter Crystal and her boyfriend Rick. The other guy is Vince (also known as “The Real Guido”). He’s famous for being a local actor and he’s often on the Dom Giordano radio show giving movie insights and opinions, he’s in a lot of films and he’s also the uncle of Rick. He’s a great guy and a lot of fun.

Nothing beats family.  

Our troops sacrifice their tomorrows so we can enjoy our todays.

Four days ago, Colin Hanna called me and said, “I was thinking about organizing a Christmas Carol Sing-Along at the Courthouse for noon on Christmas Eve, what do you think?” and I said, “Its a great idea, I’m sure we could get a decent turnout.” So Colin found some carols, he said, “I want to sing carols, not just songs, because carols are based more on the true meaning of Christmas and God’s gift to us with the birth of His Son.”  We had a 12-page booklet made and got the word out.  We were hoping for 25 people, but we got triple that. It was a perfect day, attended by many families with children. We met many new friends. People driving by waved and smiled. At the red light, some rolled down their window to sing along with us. 

 Special thanks to the Daily Local for covering the event with some nice pictures.  To read the story in the Daily Local, CLICK HERE.

Thanks to everyone who came. Our collective voices filled the winter air and it sounded heavenly. Afterwards I had lunch with Colin Hanna, his wife Pricey, and their son Colin, who is visting from Seattle. 

May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and lets pray that there be true “peace on earth”, here in America and around the world.

UPDATE – Skye brought her video camera along and taped the end, when we sang “Silent Night”. 

Thank you very much Skye! It’s beautiful.

You can watch it on her blog Midnight Blue. CLICK HERE.