As we approach the Christmas holiday time, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the last year and pass on my best wishes.
While I appreciate that not everyone is religious and there are many different faiths amongst those of you that are, we all have a time that we like to share with our family and friends and a time to reflect on the year past and the year to come.
Having this forum and youtube channel gives all of us the chance to share in a common interest and forget the petty bickering of our governments. I have been privileged enough to travel the world and meet people from all faiths, ethnic backgrounds, and colours. The thing that stands out above everything else is that we all just want to live our lives in peace.
What a year this has been and in so many ways.
It was only this year that I started the youtube channel. It was supposed to be one or two videos and I expected a couple of views. It is now 60 videos and still going. Viewers are from all over the world and I welcome everyone of you.
I picked up a couple of trolls along the way and they have seemed hell bent on ruining the channel and me. I have heard of accusations of fraud, tax evasion and scams without a single piece of evidence. These are people that don’t know me or my family and yet they go on about my children being in on the scam. What is the scam? I do free videos, free youtube channel, free competitions, free gifts for patreon subscribers, sell my surplus parts at cost or loss and donate my ebay sales to charity. It seems that you can’t help some people.
I say. If you don’t like the channel, don’t watch it or do your own.
Then there is the covid thing. I don’t know what to say about this. Everyone seems to have something different to say and the views seem very resolute and divided. Some of you may have lost loved ones, your job, your business. You may miss your freedom, your friends or the chance to travel. What ever your thoughts on the matter, we are all in this crap together. Just remember that this is nature doing what nature does. We have had viruses before and we will have them again. We can’t live forever and we can’t save everyone. It doesn’t matter when or how we reach the end of our life but what we leave behind. We are only the lease holders while we are alive and then we hand over to the next generation.
During the first lockdown, I broke the rules by visiting my 98 year old grandmother in London. She was bed bound, lonely and without any chance of visitors. When I arrived, I told her that I would be keeping my distance because our wise and wonderful government told us we had to protect our loved ones. My grandmother reminded me that she had survived 2 world wars and at 98 she had no fear of a virus. Her biggest fear was dying without being able to see and hold the people that she loved. She was a wise woman who had seen horrors that we would not want to imagine. She lived a long and full life and her wisdom has been passed on to me. I now understand that there is no point in locking yourself away from the slight chance of dying from covid if you then die from loneliness or fail to make every minute that you are alive count. You can’t wind the clock back and get back those moments that you have lost so make the most of them now. She died 2 weeks later and I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I was to have broken the rules and have that last hug from a wise and wonderful lady.
So to all of you, in every part of the world. To every religion, race and colour.
Thank you for watching my channel and being a member of my forum.
I wish you a happy Christmas. Hold your loved ones close and look forward to a happy new year.
Joe
i don’t know why … maybe accent 
