Not to take away from JCruize's nice message, but I too wanted to give a quick shout out to all my fellow PODers and give my best to you and your families during this holiday season.

In a strange way, the people who frequent this site have become a sort of "family"... albeit, a dysfunctional one sometimes.  We are all connected by a common thread and are able to be a big part of each other's lives on a daily basis.  Many of us have gotten to know each other on a more personal basis (as personal as you can get without ever having met) and have shared in some good times and bad.  This all aside from the centralized theme, which is of course, the Detroit Lions.  Not to get too sentimental, but the site has become a little more than that for me and I sense the same from some of you.  For me in particular, this site is a place of therapy... both personally and as a Lion's fan.  That is a good thing, in my opinion.  Not to say that we are all best friends and will be getting together soon for a spirited night of S'mores and Kumbaya, but it's been fun getting to know a little more about many of you other than the fact that you love the Lions.

I know many of us have had rough years.  To those, my heart goes out to you during this time and my prayers are with you and yours during what can be a difficult holiday season.  As many know, I have had one of those rough years and certainly the holidays can bring out the emotions in even the most hardened of us.  Know that I am doing well and I am very anxious to wake up in the morning and see the look on my beautiful children's faces as they see what Santa has in store for them.  Watching that childish glee and innocence, always brings back memories of my childhood and the happy times our family had back then and the new memories we continue to make. 

We will be missing an important member of our family tradition tomorrow morning, but her spirit will surely be there, smiling down upon us.  That gives me a peace through a time filled with tremendous sadness and bittersweet nostalgia.  For those of you having to endure these same emotions tomorrow, I am praying for you.  My prayer is that your holidays are filled with the memories that make you smile and count your blessings for the time that you spent with those loved ones.  I pray that you are able to put aside the pain and sorrow and cherish the memories that you will carry forever.

Have a safe and Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas,

Andrew