Parkinson’s: Please Come Home for Christmas

“May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.” Mary Anne Radmacher

“Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.” Kahlil Gibran

Introduction: By the end of December, another year is ending, it’s winter, and I’m tired and worn out. It always happens to/for me. I traditionally use the week between Christmas and New Year to chill out and renew. Historically, the teaching commitment has piled up during the fall semester; now, it is more of a collective sigh to live throughout the year with Parkinson’s. The burden is just draining, the disorder is most annoying, and the outcome is reasonably specific; however, perseverance and resilience combined carry me through this time of the year.

“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.” John Boswell

The Eagles: Several years ago, I wrote a blog post that dealt with my favorite songs by the country-rock band, The Eagles. I researched the lyrics of their music during an all-night session. Yes, an evening dedicated to listening to as many of the band’s songs as possible and recording my favorite lyrics. You can read this blog entitled “Sleep Disturbances in Parkinson’s and the Eagles Best Song Lyrics” (click here). I have always enjoyed the sound of their music, and when you dissect their lyrics, frequently there are some great lines, like, “So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains / And we never even know we have the key.” Already Gone by The Eagles.

“Christmas gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect on the important things around us.” David Cameron

Please Come Home for Christmas by the Eagles: This is the only holiday season song recorded by the band. The Eagles released it in 1978 (the same year I moved from Louisiana to North Carolina, and I am still here). It was a remake of blues singers Charles Brown and Gene Rudd. The Eagles version was also quite blues sounding, with their typical harmony on vocals and the tight band playing their instruments. But, all-in-all, it had the distinctive sad-blues-based sound and storyline.

In the beginning, the song starts off, “Bells will be ringin’ the sad, sad news / Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues / My baby’s gone, I have no friends / To wish me greetings once again.” From there, he issues a plea, “Please come home for Christmas, please come home for Christmas / If not for Christmas, by New Year’s night.” And from here, we are reminded that the holiday time is the time to be with the ones you love, “But this is Christmas, yes, Christmas, my dear / Some time of year to be with the one you love.” The song ends in a somewhat self-centered manner, “So won’t you tell me you’ll never more roam? / Christmas and New Year’s will find you home / There’ll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain / And I’ll be happy, happy once again.” With a final “And I’ll be happy, Christmas once again.”

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” Edith Sitwell

A Holiday Best Wishes: The latest wrinkle in the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire holiday season for many of us, especially as noted in the song, this is the time to be with those you love. Hopefully, your plans will be successful, and you’ll be united with family and friends during the Holiday break. If not in person, definitely Zoom with them.

Furthermore, I genuinely hope you can avoid getting infected with this hideous virus; the whole situation is unbelievable, but we live through it every day.

I thank you each for reading my stories this year. It is greatly appreciated. Each story may ring a different bell of a tune, but at the start of each blog post, I had a lesson to be told, some meaningful story to be presented. And I’m always grateful when I reach that goal.

Finally, my life is changing in multiple directions next year, and I look forward to describing my lifeline as it unfolds. Until then, I want to thank you once again. Please enjoy the holiday season, and may your days be merry and bright!

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” Rainer Maria Rilke

Please Come Home for Christmas- Lyrics
Song was written by Charles Mose Brown / Gene Redd

Bells will be ringin’ the sad, sad news
Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues
My baby’s gone, I have no friends
To wish me greetings once again

Choirs will be singin’ Silent Night
Christmas carols by candlelight
Please come home for Christmas, please come home for Christmas
If not for Christmas, by New Year’s night

Friends and relations send salutations
Sure as the stars shine above
But this is Christmas, yes, Christmas, my dear
Some time of year to be with the one you love

So won’t you tell me you’ll never more roam?
Christmas and New Year’s will find you home
There’ll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain
And I’ll be happy, happy once again

Ooh, there’ll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain
And I’ll be happy, Christmas once again

Cover Photo Image by Ingo Jakubke from Pixabay