A very quick holiday message to our listening audience from Dean and I as the clock slowly makes its way past midnight and Christmas is officially here once again.We hope you enjoy listening to the radio show every week or going back and catching up on what you may have missed by surfing over to the website and clicking on the archives. We certainly love doing the show and bringing you a regular helping of coaches, players, scouts and more from the world of junior, college and minor pro hockey.
I wanted to make a quick mention that every year the TEAM 1260 and our brother and sister Astral Media stations in Edmonton (100.3 The Bear and EZ-Rock 104.9) take part in the Help Kids Hope Radio-thon for the Stollery Children's Hospital. This past November the listeners of the three stations helped us raise somewhere in the neighborhood of a million bucks!
Why am I bringing it up now? Some of you who know me know that my daughter, Julia, spent a lot of time at the Stollery as a baby; more often than not we were residents until she was just about 3-years-old. She's now 9-years-old and doing great... that is her and not some random kid photo (she gets her great looks from her dad!)
Unfortunately life sometimes has a way of throwing curve balls and recently we've had to go back to the Stollery for some fine tuning (unrelated issues from her infant years).Although we'll be spending Christmas this year opening presents in a hospital room (Julia drew a Christmas Tree, decorated it and taped it to a wall for us to put presents under) it's been somewhat of a reality check for me... in a postive way.
Our current situation isn't all that serious (we hope!) but in rooms all around us there are kids who are facing some very serious issues - some who may not get to see another Christmas at all.
I'm not trying to put a downer on the festive season but want to stress to everyone to take the time this year to really tell the people closest to you how important they are.
If I'm learning anything this season it's that it truly is better to give than it is to receive... do some thing nice for someone else. When you're going through the Tim Horton's drive-thru, pick up the tab of the car behind you, you'd be amazed how good you'll feel!
Lastly, a big THANK YOU to the doctors and nurses at all hospitals but especially at the Stollery. It's Christmas Eve but no one on the staff here tonight is looking like they want to be anywhere else (although you KNOW they probably do!) Next year when the Help Kids Hope Radio-thon comes around again, I hope everyone who stumbles across this little message will remember it and pick up the phone.
Now go hug your kids, your brother, your sister, your parents and your friends!
Merry Christmas Everyone...
2 comments:
Merry Christmas to you and your family Guy. You obviously have a beautiful family (who get their looks from Mom, thank GOD!!!!) and know what's important in life.
You're a wise man (who happens to be wrong on Petry).
:-)
My daughter (6 weeks old) just spent 5 days at the Stollery. Turned out to be nothing serious, but I second your comments. Seeing all those seriously ill kids showing such bravery and happiness in spite of their difficulties is one of the most inspiring but heart-rending things I've witnessed. We were so happy when we were discharged but seeing the looks of worry on all the parents faces as we carried our stuff out had us feeling very fortunate and a little but guilty. The staff there are truly amazing and its a world class facility. It's too bad it took first hand experience to realize it, but we'll be donating for the rest of our lives...it's the least we can do and I'd encourage anyone to donate a few dollars to the Stollery.
Merry Christmas and best wishes for a speedy recovery for your daughter!
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