tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960732812801813184.post5028041609500482158..comments2024-02-19T01:24:09.839-06:00Comments on Faultline USA: Sleeping With The BombersFaultline USAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06691318732494110768noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960732812801813184.post-69333606593702373542007-12-19T11:08:00.000-06:002007-12-19T11:08:00.000-06:00Roger, I think stories like yours draw us into our...Roger, I think stories like yours draw us into our own memories of days gone by, and Christmas seems like a logical place for those memories to return to. <BR/><BR/>Many, people suffer, as did your mother, through the Christmas season. What should be a glorious and happy time of the year is just another "reminder" of what "real life" holds.<BR/><BR/>Roger, if you have encouraged one person with this fine piece of writing to reflect in a positive way on their past, or to "face" something they needed to revisit, then your job was done!<BR/><BR/>Great work my friend!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960732812801813184.post-64095622894916713502007-12-19T08:32:00.000-06:002007-12-19T08:32:00.000-06:00Dear Roger:I’m so sorry that I wasn’t here yesterd...Dear Roger:<BR/>I’m so sorry that I wasn’t here yesterday to read your Christmas story. What a story! You drew me into your world and I wanted so much to keep reading about your life and family. It wasn’t bleak or pessimistic but so very honest! Our memories of Christmas are always such a mixed bag. Perhaps, that why we, like your father and mother, struggle so hard to put on those lights every Christmas. Now Roger, please, please keep writing about your memories!<BR/>BarbFaultline USAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06691318732494110768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960732812801813184.post-61463828030400481882007-12-18T18:11:00.000-06:002007-12-18T18:11:00.000-06:00Thank you so much Deb. This comment of yours is pa...Thank you so much Deb. This comment of yours is particularly important to me. I've really been concerned that this was not really the appropriate venue for such an article, that it was perhaps too personal and reflective, a little too "literary". <BR/><BR/>But, so far, the reactions have been pretty good.<BR/><BR/>I can only hope that my piece doesn't seem relentlessly bleak and pessimistic. Personally, I am neither. I remain very positive and optimistic, and, fortunately, I've had many beautiful and loving Christmasses filled with unadulterated joy. <BR/><BR/>However, in it's own peculiar way, Christmastime can be quite intimidating to many of us. It almost presupposes an ideal time of love and joy spent amongst some ideal all-American Norman Rockwell family -- a lofty and unrealistic ideal that few of us can ever seem to live up to.<BR/><BR/>The older I get the more I see how many of us suffered by comparing our own all too human and imperfect families to this unblemished Saturday Evening Post world of make-believe. <BR/><BR/>Sometimes we come close, but there always seems to be some nagging familial flaw lurking in the shadows -- some uncle with a drinking problem, some kid in trouble with the law, some marriage heading for the rocks.<BR/><BR/>None the less, believe it or not, Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday of all. Even that particular Christmas, as flawed as it was by family and war, remains in my memory a sacred treasure of a bygone era, with sacred memories of people whom I loved and who loved me, and who are now long gone.<BR/><BR/>Thank you so much Deb, for not making me feel foolish for having posted this rather unusual and personal essay. <BR/><BR/>Merry, merry Christmas, my good friend! And many more of them!<BR/>Love,<BR/>your friend,<BR/>RogerRoger W. Gardnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10255672744176037466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960732812801813184.post-76874171909379498172007-12-18T16:45:00.000-06:002007-12-18T16:45:00.000-06:00Oh Roger, what a story. I know it's your personal...Oh Roger, what a story. I know it's your personal story, but it could have been written by so many of us. <BR/><BR/>Your New Jersey family all probably wished they were in your place, with the big car, big house, furs for your mother. But they had no idea (or many some of them did), how unhappy your family was. <BR/><BR/>Money and goods can never take the place of happiness, peace and contentment. Even small children can see the problems.<BR/><BR/>Christmas and other holidays can be a very depressing time for even the most stable folks. Many of us remember family members that have died during the holidays. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing.<BR/><BR/>Debbie Hamilton<BR/><A HREF="http://www.righttruth.typepad.com" REL="nofollow">Right Truth</A>Right Truthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18274108313586611205noreply@blogger.com