Random

Sending Cyberhugs

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BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN,
Mesa, Arizona, USA

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

In the United States, the lights are up on our houses and the malls are crowded with shoppers, some happy and some humbuggers. Some are experiencing a white Christmas while we Arizonans experience a nice Christmas.

Those of us who traveled in the world this year are experiencing a different Christmas. I thought I would feel calmer. I thought I would be repulsed by the buying frenzy. I know in past years I always was. This year is different for me. I want to embrace every tradition and savor every ritual. I like going to the mall and seeing both the joyful shoppers and the grumpy ones. I think it is because we have the freedom to be either.

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A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

We still have the freedoms but lack of fear has diminished for all of us. I believe in Zambia there is a fear of hunger and an unknown future. I think that Zambia is on the brink of change. I believe it is an African nation that has the chance to prosper. Like all opportunities it will not be a highway, but a rocky way. It will be up to its own citizens to stand up and unite together to create a nation of possibilities. This year, I have learned that if you want something bad enough and you work to make it happen, then something does happen.

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And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The road is so long
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let’s stop all the fight

And so this is Christmas this year. How human to look back and remember last Christmas. How very busy I was. I was working for someone else. I was trying to make everyone else’s Christmas enjoyable and I forgot about my own. Next year will come and I want to remember this Christmas as joyful and warm and fun. It is fortunate that I have the ability to choose that. It is wonderful that I have the right to have that.

ZambianTree.jpgAnd so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

To my friends in Zambia I wish you a joyful Christmas. To my friends here … make it a joyful Christmas. I wish I could hug you all! I guess a cyber hug will have to do!

Song lyrics: “The War is Over” by John Lennon