Matt Monro Forum

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,

HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE,

MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.


I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY,

WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO,

IN THIS HOME, DID LIVE.


I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,

A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,

NOT EVEN A TREE.


NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,

JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES,

OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.


WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,

AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT,

CAME THROUGH MY MIND.


FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,

IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,

ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.


THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,

SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR,

IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.


THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,

THE ROOM IN DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED,

A TRUE BRITISH SOLDIER.


WAS THIS THE HERO,
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?


I REALISED THE FAMILIES,

THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS,

WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.


SOON ROUND THE WORLD,

THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE,

A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.


THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM,

EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,

LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.


I COULDN'T HELP WONDER,

HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE,

IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.


THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT,

A TEAR TO MY EYE,

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES,

AND STARTED TO CRY.


THE SOLDIER AWAKENED,

AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

"SANTA DON'T CRY,

THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;


I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,

I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD,

MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS...."


THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,

I CONTINUED TO WEEP.


I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,

SO SILENT AND STILL,

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED,

FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.


I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE,

ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR,

SO WILLING TO FIGHT.


THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,

IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."


ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."


This poem was written by a Peacekeeping soldier stationed overseas.

HERE'S ANOTHER HEARTWARMING CHRISTMAS TALE

A man named Bob May stared out through the window
of his draughty apartment into the chilling December night.
His four-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing.
Bob's dear wife Evelyn was dying of cancer.
Barbara looked enquiringly into her father's eyes:
'Why isn't Mommy just like everybody's mommy?'
The question moved Bob to tears; it was a microcosm of his life.
As a boy of diminutive stature, he was bullied by other boys.
From early childhood the fates conspired against him and he became
the proverbial square peg in a round hole.
However, against the odds he married his loving wife Evelyn
and they were blessed with a little girl.
Now bad luck returned to haunt Bob as medical costs compounded
the horror of Evelyn's cancer by stripping them of their savings.
They were reduced to living in a two-room apartment in Chicago's slums.
Evelyn died before Christmas, 1938.
Unable to afford a present for Barbara, Bob wrote his autobiography
for her in fable form. The character he created was a misfit like himself
who he named Rudolph. The general manager of Montgomery Ward,
Bob's copywriting employer, read the story and offered to publish it.
The book was a runaway publishing success selling six million copies
in its first year; impecunious Bob May became a millionaire, and later
his brother-in-law Johnny Marks wrote an song adaptation of the
story. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer was recorded by Bing Crosby,
Dinah Shore and in 1949 a version was recorded by Gene Autry,
which sold more copies than any other Christmas song, apart from
White Christmas.
The gift of love Bob created for his daughter kept returning to bless
him again and again. The experience taught him an invaluable lesson:
being different isn't so bad - in fact it can be a blessing.

This is a condensed version of an true story emailed to me
by our dear friend Ed, in Orlando. Merry Christmas, mate.

Keith

................... .........................

Hi Robert

ONWARD AND UPWARD

Here's wishing Hull City a laugh,
not a languishing tear,
in the upcoming second half;
i.e. the new football year.

We got a 3-2 win today Keith late Jimmy Bullard goal hard to believe we have one of the country's top midfield players playing for us ..............only 5 point's off the play off's now ........................our new owner's the Allams, payed off City's £30 million debts at one fell swoop