Masters of Gilligan

Oh Come All Ye Faithful

FADE IN:

Int. SUBURBAN KITCHEN - WINTER DAY

Two early teens -- a boy and a girl, are arguing.  The boy is wearing a Steelers jersey.

GIRL
I want to celebrate the birth of our lord and savior!

BOY
And I want to celebrate six Steelers Super Bowls!

GIRL
Christmas!

BOY
Football!

GIRL
Balthazar, Gaspar, and Melchior!

BOY
Noll, Cowher and Tomlin!

GIRL
Our father who art in heaven!

BOY
Art Rooney, who art in Canton!

Enter Father

FATHER
Hey, kids, why all the fussin' and a-fightin'?

GIRL
I want to decorate the living room for Christmas, and HE wants to cover it in black and gold!

Father shrugs his shoulders and clasps his hands to his face.

FATHER
WHAT'S a father to do?

VOICE OVER
WHOA, hold on there dad!  Now you can celebrate Christmas AND the Steelers!

FATHER, BOY AND GIRL (in unison)
Whaaaaa?

Cut to product shot:

 

VOICEOVER
That's right!  With the new Steelers Tree*, there's no need to choose between The Big Guy Upstairs and Big Ben!  At long last, you can celebrate both the Immaculate Conception and the Immaculate Reception all at once. 

(*actual product as advertised in the Sunday Post-Gazette)

INTERIOR - LIVING ROOM ON CHRISTMAS MORNING

MOTHER, FATHER, BOY AND GIRL
Here we go, Steelers, here we go!
Here we go, Jesus, here we go!

FATHER (turns to camera)
Thanks, Steelers Tree!

VOICEOVER
Call now!  Charlie Batch is standing by with a clipboard to take your order.

January Always Comes First

Last week I had to take Adam to the dentist to have two cavities filled.  This is just one week after Bob took him to the dentist for a temporary crown.  The poor kid has very soft teeth according to the dentist so we have to be very vigilant on what he eats and how often he brushes.    The dentist has a note in the file that Adam does better when his parent remains in the waiting room so I could not stay with him and he was very upset.  Probably just as upset as I was when I heard him crying from the back when they (presumably) gave him a shot of Novocain.  The two bouts of loud crying almost broke my heart and I started to tear up on the waiting room.  When he was done, he came out and told me that was a terrible experience.  I assured him that it was and that if we keep up on his brushing, flossing and rinsing with fluoride he shouldn’t have to go through it again.  So far, so good.

Now as much as I just wanted to grab him from that chair, give him a big hug and tell him that I will never let anyone hurt him again, it is nothing in comparison to a little girl that goes by the name of January, but everyone calls her Jani.  I came across her story through an article in the LA Times.  Jani is seven years old, lives in California with her mum, dad and little brother and she has tested at the genius level.  One problem with what should be a very bright future for this little girl.  She is schizophrenic.  To make matters worse, as if there is such a thing, schizophrenic children are very rare.  There are currently no services to really help this family.  If she was autistic or had another form of mental illness that was more prevalent then there would be all kinds of assistance available to help her.   

Jani’s dad blogs about their life at http://www.januaryfirst.org/.  I suggest that you start at the first entry and work your way back up to the current entries with a box of Kleenex nearby.  My words cannot adequately describe the hell that this family goes through on a 24x7x365 basis.  They also cannot adequately describe the love this family has for their little girl and the lengths that they go through to keep her, and her brother, alive. 

I look forward to updates on the blog to see how Jani is doing as much as I read them to remind me that taking Adam to the dentist is a necessary evil but he will bounce right back to his normal happy-go-lucky personality.  And as much as I tear up at the sound of him crying it is nothing compared to the anguish that Jani’s parents face everyday when their little girl slips into an hallucinogenic state and plays with rats that tell her to do violent things and won’t stop doing violent things to her (in her head) until she does what they want.  Sometimes I just have to be reminded how lucky I really am.