"Christmas Belongs To You"

Christmas 2010 for me was a lonely Christmas. for me! Perhaps the saddest Christmas since my my mother was killed at Christmas in 1974. It all came due to some eye issues that I had developed and after having a car repossessed after losing my job last year. Add to that a current vehicle from 1995 that is not very freeway friendly. So there were no visits to my three sisters and no visits to my nieces or nephews and no visits to great nieces and nephews. It was indeed a lonely Christmas. My sisters seem to stay within their own immediate families and not one member of my family actually went to see one of the others and that hasn't happened ever in my memory. Way back in 1996, I had a nervous breakdown and spent all of December of 1996 and all of January 1997 in a hospital and then a halfway house in Inglewood . The hospital was Gateway Hospital and the Halfway House was Excelsior House not far from the race track. Gateway Hospital was an interesting place that helped me to calm down and actually begin to forget my troubles. My business had failed miserably and very suddenly and it was of the worst crashes of my life. Excelsior House held a lot of great memories. I actually had the calmest thirty days in that facility tan I had ever known. There were no worries there. There were kind, good and wonderful counselors. I remember an amazing black gentleman who gave me a wonderful saying that went "Everyday above ground is a great day!" I made several friends. I only wish know that I had kept up with them. But even Christmas there, I had visits from my entire family. Not this year. everybody seemed troubled. Everybody seemed too busy and my youngest sister was so not in the mood for Christmas, she failed to put up a tree or wrap a single gift. I know why, and trust me, i wish I could have done something to solve her problems instantly. If I were rich, or even comfortable, my dear sisters would never have to ask for a single thing. I would be right there to solve their problems. Why that is hard for them to really understand that is a mystery. We were raised close as kids-- really close. My mother and dad were absolute champions of generosity. They wouldn't have given you everything they had and more. Even when my dad was hopelessly out of work when we were kids, there were always piles of presents and a huge tree and festive decorations. And the food? It was incredible. My mother made her own lasagna and egg plant Parmesan-- wow was that great! And she made home made pizza too-- now that ladies and gentlemen was absolute heaven. But there was no real warmth this Christmas. But I was so grateful to my long time companion who gave me a very special and totally unselfish Christmas present and my dear partner, John Nugent continues to amaze and thrill me with his incredible musical talent. We have now completed the casting on "The Bremen Town Boys" and I am so happy for that. We had many actors quit, it was getting to be really desperate. We have an amazing director in Cat Deobler. She is really amazing. And just as thought things were calming down, I get the news that my very first musical collaborator had a very serious and life threatening heart attack. He's only 55 years old. Wow-- life is certainly not a dress rehearsal. I love Randy so much. We have written some of the most beautiful songs together including the most special song of all that we wrote together in 1981 called "Christmas Belongs To You' I always thought that this song would have been discovered and become a Christmas classic song. I can't believe hopw many years I have been at this! Oh yes-- Eight hundred songs later. I'm still writing. I'm still trying to make it again. It isn't easy. I pray to God that a miracle happens soon. In the meantime, on we go and "The Bremen Town Boys" will go on in February to a fabulous audience. It's a very funny show with a lot of laughs and honest humor. All happens in Van Nuys at a new 136 seat theatre. Let's make this a great event! Come see it!