Maybe we should be thinking about gifts we’ve already received this year—rather than the presents we will be giving or getting this Christmas. A gift isn’t always something that makes you feel good or happy. Sometimes the truth is the opposite—what makes it a gift is the value it adds to your life. Even the loss of someone close to you can be a gift—the physical entity might be gone, but the memories will last a lifetime.
This year let’s reflect on what is important—family, friendships, and health.
The song of a bird is a gift—it tells you that you can still hear. The sunrise and sunset are gifts—they indicate that you can still see and feel warmth. Even pain can be a gift because it lets you still feel.
This year, value those who value you and let go of the rest. And above everything else, value yourself—because you matter. I wish you all the best Christmas you ever had.
This Christmas, many people will spend the holiday without their best friend, wife, husband, father, mother, son, daughter, girlfriend, boyfriend or other people they knew for the first time. That first Christmas is very hard after a loss. It doesn’t mean you should feel guilty when you want to celebrate. That is what they would want you to do. This year not only celebrate Christmas but also celebrate their lives.
In your mind’s eye, picture a Christmas tree—decorate that tree with the memories of your loved ones. On top of the tree put a bright shining star, because that’s what they are now, stars. They are looking down on us celebrating Christmas from afar—yet so close. So far, because their physical shape is no longer there, and so close because they are in our hearts and minds.
I lost several friends this year, including my best friend. I know that I will probably get a bit emotional this Christmas. Thankfully, I will be emotional because if that isn’t the case—it would mean there was no emotional connection and, therefore no love.
That’s why I am looking forward to Christmas this year because I have two celebrations to carry out—Christmas and his life. Merry Christmas to all who are here and those who are looking down on us from afar, the stars that lit up my life.
With fringe Christmas songs I mean songs which are not Christmas songs per se, but more Christmas-sy than for example East 17’s- Stay Now.
Episode 2 is a short one by the Waterboys.
Winter winter on the way Bitter cold she bring Winter winter on the way Hard and deadly thing Winter winter on the way Everybody sing Winter winter on the way And after winter…
“Where Is Christmas Now” is a sweet, nostalgic, unashamedly sentimental carol to Christmas in all its colours, joys, and magic.
Evoking the memory of classic Christmas songs of old, and pared back to just straight-from-the-heart vocals, and featuring the wonder of legendary UK jazz pianist Rob Barron, “Where Is Christmas Now” is the perfect musical gift to add seasonal sparkle to your holidays.
Here’s what DJ’s have been saying about the track so far:
“I’m a sucker for a Christmas song, and this new one from Sandra-Mae Lux is a lovely addition to the repertoire.” (Codesouth FM / Brighton)
“A portrait of the holiday season” (Pride Radio)
“Feels like a track I must have known from times past…lovely” (Resonance 104.4FM)
“Lovely song, great vocal and piano” (The Lounge Radio DAB)
“Beautifully sung and one to get into the festive mood to.” (RTRFM, Perth)
“Lovely Christmas ballad” (Colourful Radio)
“Beautiful tune that brings back memories!” (WUTK-FM 90.3 Knoxville. TN)
“What a voice!” (Wycombe Sound 106.6 FM)
“Tender ballad that will hopefully be a hit” (The Yorkshire Times)
“Very very beautiful voice and production!” (HSH Radio Hamburg)
With fringe Christmas songs I mean songs which are not Christmas songs per se, but more Christmas-sy than for example Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s—”Power of Love.”
The first one is by All About Eve-“December,” the song comes from their second album “Scarlet and Other Stories,” released in 1989.
“There’s a Victorian tin, I keep my memories in I found it up in the attic After looking inside, I find the things that I’m hiding… The leaves saved from a mistletoe kiss Only nostalgia has me feeling like this… Like I miss you It must be the time of year
Remember December It’s like a wintergreen beside a diamond stream Remember December A fall of snow and the afterglow It could be taking our breath away But the years stand in the way Remember December How does it make you feel inside?
Beneath a Valentine, I see a locket is shining I think it must be the wine Makes me feel it’s all real Where nothing seems to rhyme To breathe life into the dust of a keepsake I might as well try to fix a chain on a snowflake Or a heartache It must be the time of year
Remember December It’s like a wintergreen beside a diamond stream Remember December A fall of snow and the afterglow It could be taking our breath away But the years stand in the way Remember December How does it make you feel inside?
Should I feel this alone, should I pick up the phone Should I call you up and wish you ‘Happy Christmas’? I feel so alone, should I pick up the phone Take my heart in my hand And ask if you remember December It’s like a wintergreen beside a diamond stream Remember December A fall of snow and the afterglow It could be taking our breath away But the years stand in the way Remember December How does it make you feel inside?”
Every year lasted too long With Easter bunnies, birthday cards and seaside outings in the summer Only to break the long Gap of time that stretched between the one and the other Christmas
Christmas in the sixties was fine With candles, goodies, presents, and wine “Peace on Earth” was real, it seemed And “Love” a word as yet not obscene, no no Watching the season parade
Dying trees, and neon stars, and plastic Santas for a penny Urging to celebrate Here comes another Christmas Christmas was a jolly old time With Billy Smarts and Auld Lang Syne “Peace on Earth” was real, it seemed And “Love” a word as yet not obscene, no no Christmas tree smell and those silvery bells
Christmas was a friend of mine Christmas was a friend of mine Merry, merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas everybody All around the world, Christmastime And everybody have a good time coming in and talk to me yeah Christmas time is here again Been around since you-know-when Happy New Year, Happy New Year I hope that everyone
It was a few weeks before Christmas 2011. We went to see “Arthur Christmas” in the cinema in 3D. Afterwards my family were saying how impressive the 3dD had been, where I hadn’t noticed it at all.
I had some problem with my eye though, but hadn’t thought anything of it. I thought it was just a minor issue. After a while though I got it checked .After the drops I got didn’t help, I was referred to the Hospital. I was told my retina in my right eye had detached. Still not realizing the seriousness of it, I asked what medication I could take for that, The doctor told me that I wasn’t going anywhere, I was to stay in the Hospital for a surgery.
It was so serious that they nearly prioritized my surgery to that of a lady who had been in a serious accident and was about to lose her life.
The following morning I had my operation, Initially all seemed well and after a few days I was sent home. I was to come back for a check up a week later. During the check up I was told the retina had detached again, At this point I panicked. Because I had already been told before my 1st operation that there was a 1 in 3 chance things could go wrong. I figured the odds of something going wrong for a second operation, would be much higher.
Also the urgency had gone, indicating that the surgeons had little hope, Nonetheless they brought me in for another operation the following day- At this point I should tell you that I had very little sight in my left eye too due to something that happened when I was 3- So I went in for the surgery and literally everything that could go wrong did, My face had even become disfigured, the pressure in the right eye was too high and it needed strong medication to bring down the pressure. The medication made me very sick. Eventually the eyewall caved in, making my eye shrink. I basically lost my eye.
I was sent home at Christmas eve, nothing could be done anymore.
This where miracles start to happen.
Needless to say I was very upset, because of all this self pity I hadn’t noticed that the sight in my left eye had improved.
Prior to all of this happening my youngest son had put a “Yellow stretchy man” on his list to Santa. Because Santa was busy that year, we went to look for it. We couldn’t find it anywhere, but eventually mu wife found it an Art and Hobby shop, They toy was about an inch tall and cost 75 cents, it is very much like the one pictured above.
When he came down on Christmas morning the first present he picked up was that yellow stretchy man.
At that moment on that Christmas day ,all my self pity changed into gratefulness. The fact that I still had kids who appreciated the small things in life, made me feel the luckiest dad in the world. I broke down in tears, my kids thought it was because of sadness and what had happened to me but I told them they were tears of joy.
They sight in my left eye improved so much that I can live a normal life. Although the retina also detached a few years later (ironically also a few weeks before Christmas)in my left eye, they were able to fix it with a scleral buckle. With some special adapted glasses I can event still drive a car. I currently have a partial prosthetic right eye
Christmas miracles do still happen, also in the 21st century.
Some might think the title, Escape to Suriname—A Holocaust Christmas Story, is a bit contradictory. Dutch Jews were fully integrated into Dutch culture, and many would have participated in the Sinterklaas and Christmas celebrations. This story is about more than that, and one I was not familiar with.
On Christmas Eve 1942, more than a hundred, mainly Jewish refugees, arrived in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, which was still a Dutch colony. So many refugees left everything behind in the occupied Netherlands and fled to Lisbon, and among them was Liny Pajgin, with her mother, sisters, and brother-in-law. The Portuguese ship Nyassa took them to Suriname. The group was interned in the Home for War Refugees—an old clubhouse in Paramaribo. After several months, they emigrated to the Caribbean and some to the United States.
The flight through Europe in 1942 was dangerous. Refugees had to cross several borders, each with its own risks: between the Netherlands and Belgium, Belgium and occupied France, occupied France and Vichy France and the border between Vichy France, and Spain. Many refugees didn’t have the correct papers and had to cross the borders illegally. Many desperate to cross, depended on so-called passeurs (essentially human smugglers). Liny Pajgin’s family used various passeurs at border crossings.
Once in Spain, they heard that ships were sailing from Spanish and Portuguese ports to the Caribbean. One of those ships was the Portuguese ship Nyassa. On 5 December 1942, the ship sailed from Lisbon to Porto, and on 10 December the Nyassa left for Suriname. On board were Jews and non-Jews who fled from the occupied Netherlands. They were well fed, which was surprising after their flight was full of hardships. Many of them were seasick, and their crossing was not without dangers—there were fears of attacks by German U-boats.
It was 1942 Christmas Eve when the Nyassa reached Suriname. The ship was too large to enter the port of Paramaribo, and everyone had to be transferred to a smaller vessel. The transfer was via a narrow, slippery ladder. Several suitcases fell into the water. This was standard practice in Suriname but a fearful moment for the refugees because they remembered well how the Jewish refugees on the German ship MS St. Louis were not admitted to Cuba or the United States. Some passengers were afraid of being discharged at sea.
The MS St. Louis was under the command of Captain Gustav Schröder. On 13 May 1939, it set sail from Hamburg to Havana, Cuba carrying 937 passengers, most of them Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution in Germany.
Captain Schröder was a German who went to great lengths to ensure dignified treatment for all his passengers. Food served included items subject to rationing in Germany, and childcare was available while parents dined. Dances and concerts were part of the ship’s entertainment, and on Friday evenings, religious services were held in the dining room. (The bust of Hitler was covered by a tablecloth.) Swimming lessons were given at the ship’s pool. The hope was to reach Cuba and then travel to the US—but were turned away from Havana, and the United States wouldn’t let them disembark. They were forced to return to Europe, where more than 250 were killed by the Nazis.
——————————-
Fortunately, it turned out not to be a repeat of the MS St Louis this time, and they safely disembarked to the port of Paramaribo.
Almost immediately after arrival, all refugees were interned in the Home for War Refugees. The men and women were separated. There was hardly any privacy, and there were not enough sanitary facilities. The refugees were not allowed to leave the campsite, which was surrounded by barbed wire—at least for the first few weeks. They were not given access to their money. They were not allowed to make contact with the outside world. For some, this felt like a great injustice: they were Dutch citizens on Dutch territory.
As soon as the MS Nyassa refugees gained access to their money or found a job, they left the internment camp. Others received help from the Jewish Surinamese. The refugees found shelter together at a rental apartment in Paramaribo or in the homes of Surinamese people. Part of the group worked by joining the Princess Irene Brigade.
Not everyone stayed in Suriname, some moved to the Caribbean. For example, the Wolf family emigrated to Curaçao. The young Wolf brothers enrolled in school, and their parents worked in a clothing store. Here the MS Nyassa refugees often encountered other Dutch refugees who ended up in the Dutch colonies of Suriname and Curaçao, but also in Jamaica, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.
Others, like Liny Pajgin and her relatives, obtained the correct legal papers to emigrate to the United States and stayed there even after the Netherlands was liberated in 1945. After the war, some of the refugees returned to Europe.
Below is an interview with Liny Pajgin from 30 March 1990. The interview starts about 15 seconds into the video. Not only does she describe the escape but also the life in the Netherlands before World War II and the gradual introduction of anti-Jewish laws introduced by the Nazis.
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I know you must be thinking that I lost my mind, We just had Christmas last month, so I am either very late or way too early.
But worry not, this is just to give you a chance to prepare for next Christmas and perhaps are Christmases to come. These are actual Christmas greetings and cards used in the Victorian era. It might inspire you to send one of these next Christmas to the ones you love, or perhaps the ones you loath.
Of course it is perfectly normal that a kangaroo paints an ostrich for Christmas.
Who doesn’t remember that classic Christmas carol “Frosty the snowman is just melting away”
I am not sure if this was meant for Christmas or Halloween.
I suppose even scary clowns deserve a Christmas break.
Of course lets not forget the old tradition of the Christmas stabbing.
Maybe we should be thinking about the gifts we’ve already received this year, rather than the presents we will be giving or getting this Christmas. A gift isn’t always something that makes you feel good or happy. Sometimes it’s the opposite that is true, but what makes it a gift is the value it adds to your life.
Even the loss of someone near can be a gift, the physical entity might be gone, but the memories will last a lifetime.
This year reflect on what is really important, family, friendships, and health. The song of a bird is a gift, it tells you that you can still hear. The sunrise and sunset are gifts, it indicates you can still see and feel the warmth. Even pain can be a gift because it tells you, you can still feel. This year value those who value you and let go of those who don’t. And above everything else value yourself, because you matter. I wish you all the best Christmas you ever had.
History of Sorts 
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