December 21, 2006 by Walter Schneider.

Please enjoy sharing the best ever Christmas present that I ever got. Sam Butt
For : Sam Butt. Thank you. Composed by: Peter ‘F’
December 5, 2006

My Dad at Christmas

The teacher said to write to Santa, but no more than three pages.
The lads got going, making lists that seemed to take ages!!
Daniel wants Lego, and Jack asked for a brand new bike,
Adam wants a Ferrari, - that guy jeez what’s he like!

Deano wants a skateboard; Luke wants games for his PS2.
Sean’s letter is a disaster, - that boy hasn’t got a clue!
Santa will sure be broke with such a list of things to bring,
But he can’t really help me. I want for just one thing.

I love my Mom for she is the best, and I could never have another,
She’s always there no matter what, for me and my brother.
Little Ben and me live with Mom, the judge he made it be.
So, at Christmas time in our house, it’ll be gifts for just us three.

I also love my Dad so much, though he lives with us no more.
Sometimes he shows up at my school or at the pitch, to watch me score.
Other times we go for Big Macs or a film, if it’s not too late,
But its back to Mom by the evening, he drops us at the gate.

Mom and Dad don’t get on, why not, they never say.
They went to court to sorts things out, but things got worse that day.
Dad packed his bags and wept goodbye, it shook me to the core.
“He’s not coming back”, says my Mom, “Not a foot inside that door”.

I miss my Dad. I miss him lots, I think of him alone.
I want to see him Christmas Day, not just on the phone.
On Christmas Day I want to see my Dad, and wish him Christmas cheer.
I want to see Gran and Granddad for the very first time this year.

Dear Santa please help make it better, to you I plead and pray,
Make Mom and Dad stop fighting, for just a single day,
On Christmas Day, I don’t want no toys or anything else to play.
I just want to see my Dad, on a very special day…………..

…………Things are now sorted. It wasn’t Santa that helped me.
I’m going to see my Dad at Christmas, so a special day it’ll be.
The bestest present ever! – is not beneath the tree.
I’ll see my Dad at Christmas, thanks to Sam at Fathers.ie

info@fathers.ie – www.fathers.ie
1890 55 44 33 – 091 752355

Posted in Men's Issues, Shared Parenting, Family | Print | 2 Comments »

December 21, 2006 by Walter Schneider.

Perciva wrote:

What do you care if anorexia kills a lot or if it dosen’t? What difference does it make to you?

Since you say your site is based on facts, and since you have no idea what makes a person anorexic, why don’t you withhold judgement of the issue until you know the etiology of the disease?

I was an anorexic woman, cured many years ago now. I know why I became anorexic. I came to understand the driving force and dynamic behind the disease. With that in mind, the presumptuous angle of your writings looks rather silly. Take it from me, you are not fit to pass judgement on the personal or social impact of this condition.

Get the facts, Jack. Otherwise, you’ll be hopelessly lost, and will continue to look very foolish.

Perciva….

Hello Perciva,

Thank you for writing.

It appears that the facts presented at the anorexia nervosa pages at Fathers for Life don’t jive with your perception of reality and that that bothers you, but I will not apologize for that. The problem is yours and not mine. Facts are facts, and perceptions are biased.

As you were falling with the door into my house when you came knocking, you asked, “What do you care if anorexia kills a lot or if it dosen’t? What difference does it make to you?”

I won’t tell you why I care. I wouldn’t even tell you if the answer to your question weren’t already contained in the anorexia nervosa pages of F4L. You are just not objective enough a reader and sufficiently perceptive to have recognized the answer, in spite of it being in plain view and staring you in the face. Repeating myself won’t change your cognitive abilities.

From a logical perspective, my answer to your question doesn’t matter. A rational individual would not have asked for it to begin with. A personal opinion may be about reality, but, unless for a good cause, it should never be permitted to influence it. My opinion carries no more weight in relation to the attributes of reality than does yours or anyone else’s. The only thing that matters when measuring and evaluating reality are facts.

If you don’t like the facts, too bad. All that means is that you are in denial. Your denial of reality is totally immaterial, mainly and overwhelmingly because it is not representative of the vast majority of the people who write to Fathers for Life about anorexia nervosa.

Aside from all of that, I am sympathetic to your feeling that your personal experience with anorexia nervosa is the only yardstick by which everyone’s perceptions about anorexia nervosa must be measured. However, my sympathy does not constitute an endorsement of your views. It is nothing more than a personal expression of my condolences. It must have come as a bit of a shocker to you to find out that the affliction from which you were cured was not the dangerous and deadly disease you had imagined it to be, and that you are not as much a victim as you are a dupe.

There is no possible way you can succeed with imposing your biased perceptions as a universal moral standard on the whole world. You are wasting your time by trying to do so. You will be better off to preach your gospel to anorexia-nervosa addicts. As you should well know, those are prone to easily fall prey to distortions of reality. Still, I would like to extend my congratulations to you for having successfully kicked your habit of self-starvation.

Sincerely,

Walter Schneider
http://fathersforlife.org

Posted in Anorexia Nervosa | Print | No Comments »