[Congressman Billybob]

This is a personal story, of course. But it is also a Christmas story that might be of value to my friends on FreeRepublic.

John / Billybob

[bert]

Thanks for the story....

Merry Christmas

[marron]

I've got tears in my eyes. Thanks.

[proudmilitarymrs]

A Christmas story indeed Congressman, thank you.

Merry Christmas to you!

[exit82]

John, Merry Christmas to you and your family.I always enjoy reading your point of view.Hope you will be around in 2043 to celebrate your 100th birthday.

[kipita]

With the kid you've adopted and taken into your home and your kind thoughtful words expressed on FR, it seems as though there will be many white envelopes during Christmas for generations to come.

[Mike Darancette]

Merry Christmas and a prayer for Mike and your dad.

[geezerwheezer]

My Dad and Mom raised thirteen of us. Each of us became our own person, steeped in the tradition of God, Family and Country. When I was little, I remember asking my Dad why there were so many of us, and he told me that when he was a little boy he was quite ill with pneumonia, whooping cough, and a constant fever. Of course, his Mother would not let him go out to play and he would sit at the front window and look at the house across the way where the family living there had seven children. The children that lived there played and had fun together. He told me that he decided then that he wanted a child for each window of that house, so when he looked out of his window he would have a playmate too. He then told me there were thirteen windows in that house, and that was why there were thirteen of us. I always thought my Dad made up this story, and when he died we went to his hometown for his funeral service. Afterwards, I drove by his old house for the memories, saw a bunch of children playing across the way, looked at their house and counted the windows. Of course, there were thirteen! I then felt connected to my Dad, and still do. Thanks for sharing your story about your Father. Aren't all Fathers special? Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

He would be sad to know that the last vestige of his work disappeared this year, when AT&T was bought out, having long ago been stripped of all its “baby Bells.”

At the risk of unduly disputing such a personal memoir, not so.

His work may be dispersed, renamed and even redone, but without him and others of previous generations, we would not have what we have today.

We stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us. Everything we are and have has been built on the foundation that they laid, and that foundation will last for as long as our civilization endures.

[litehaus]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours....many more happy memories in the days ahead I am sure....

[SeaBiscuit]

Giving.. the gift that keeps on.. giving. Thanks for this spirited story.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[doug from upland]

Thanks for sharing it with us, John. Have a blessed Christmas, my friend.

[ozaukeemom]

Thank you. Yes, I have tears in my eyes. Wonderful stories.Merry Christmas.

[markman46]

Thank you for the wonderful story John, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

BTTT

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

John:

G.B. Shaw's politics were very far from those of most FReepers, yet his personal philosophy strikes a chord in tune with your poignant, moving story:

---

"I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake."

"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

"This is the true joy in life--being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

-- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish-born British playwright & founder of the Fabian Society

[George Smiley]

Thank you, John, and a belated Merry Christmas to you.