Official Luthiers Forum!

     I just wandered in after a busy morning of doing what my wife and I
have been doing to fill my days and to keep my feeling of self worth as
high as possible while I'm not producing guitars...which means I'm not
producing income. Our church has several programs through which we
reach out to our local community in ways that aren't necessarily churchy
and can touch people in ways that a hearty, "God Bless You and have a
Merry Christmas!" never will. We've made ourselves available to do what is
needed to make them work this year so we're the faces behind all of them
as we go from home to home visiting and bearing gifts from the church
and its people.

    We were out making the rounds delivering food and gifts to a longish
list of local families who are in need. Every time we stop to drop a care
package off to a house, we do our best to let the family know that we just
love them and care about their situation and want to brighten the season
and lighten the burden a little for them. Gifts for the family, food for the
holidays, home heating fuel deliveries, and sometimes just a friendly visit
to provide some cheery conversation and company depending on their
individual situations, but each one ends up leaving us feel more blessed
than the families we're trying to touch.

    Well, needless to say, we walked in excited and feeling really happy
that we were able to bring lots of smiles to faces today and even got to
enjoy sharing some tears of joy with parents who wouldn't have been able
to do for their kids otherwise. Giving is a great way to shake ourselves
into a place where we realized how blessed we really are and that, even in
our darkest times, there are those who need help, love and
encouragement even more than we do.

     Sometimes, it's a basket of gifts that can help...others, it's heat for the
house or food for the table and we've even made someone's season by
just spending a few hours putting up their tree and decorating it and the
house for them if they're not physically able to. The most overlooked,
though, are the ones where just a hug, a gentle touch or a little time
around the table enjoying a meal together makes all the difference in the
world and changes a person's view of Christmas and people in general.

     We were able to enjoy being a part of every one of those scenarios this
week, but we came home to a surprizing and, again, humbling indication
that you've all been doing alot of the same things we have....but to help
us. My wife and I both broke into tears as we opened the gifts that you all
contributed to send to us. It was one of the most emotional moments of
my life and I actually had to get alone for a little while out in my shop to
truly break down and absorb the magnitude what you all had done.

    Thank you, thank you, thank you to one and all who were so incredibly
generous and gracious as you set aside things that could have easily been
kept for use in your own homes and families and offered them to mine
instead. Giving is an amazing thing in the way it affects both the giver
and receiver and I can speak for my family as I say that your giving has
affected us all deeply and that it has specifically changed the way my
children view the hearts of others as people put action behind their
feelings and words.

    I am forever indebted to each and every one of you for your seemingly
limitless generosity and want to wish you all a Merry Christmas as we all
offer our deepest thanks again for everything.

    Wow! I'm still in shock.

     I'm hoping that you all will have the joy over the Christmas season that
you've brought to our home.

Merry Christmas to all,
Kevin Gallagher & Family

     

We went to our local Costco yesterday, and our two boys gave 1/3 of this years allowance, Marion and I kicked in a bunch, and we bought food for the local food bank. The Salvation Army rep was standing with her kettle, and people were dropping in cash, but the food box behind her was completely empty. Well, when we left, it was overflowing .... she just about cried. She hugged us all, and said we had just made her day.

Well, it made ours as well ....

Merry Christmas Kevin, and to the Gallagher family, from all of us. I am about to cry now ...

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Tears are flowing. I love a generous heart.

Merry Christmas to you and yours Kevin.

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Very touching story Kevin. I'm very happy to have played a small part in helping to make your Christmas a bit better.
God Bless you and your family.

Tony good on your and your family too. Have a great Holiday Season.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Amen, brother.

No matter how bad our personal situation may be, there is always someone else in a worse predicament.

I glad that what we (OLF'ers, etc) shared with you during you time, allowed you, in turn, to go out and share with even the less fortunate.

THAT is the work of our Lord, and is truly the reason for the season.

God bless you, Kevin, your wife and family and all those you touched.

_________________
Hank Mauel

Those who sow with tears shall reap with joy!

Kevin, I know you're well aware of it, but our "family" here on the OLF is one that not only cares about each other, but also loves one another as deeply as is possible considering the nature of our community. I too have been blessed to be a part of blessing your family, as well as trying to bless others this holiday season. There's no limit to the needs in our world. Hopefully, we all can continue the spirit of giving thoughout the year.

We all thank you for you for sharing a piece of your life with us here, and know that we will always be grateful for it. Many of us understand that in the truest of senses we are Brothers, and we will do all we can for our family when they need us.

Be blessed!

Don

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Kevin,

A Very Merry Christmas to you and your entire family. I am not a religious man but I sure do believe in the human spirit and honour those who live by the 'golden rule'. You are a shining example of that! Peace to you and your family and do get well soon.

Shane

_________________
Canada

It was our pleasure....

Merry Christmas!

_________________
Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Made me feel good. I think this whole experience has made me more generous this year. Giving really is a wonderful thing.

Merry Christmas Kevin and family and to all my OLF family.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

I cannot agree more with Shane, Peter and Rob and all.

Merry Christmas to all. It gives great hope and strength to know that people still can take care of each other in this way. What we humans can do seems small, and what we get in return seems overwhelming.

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Well Kevin, it looks like both our lives were deeply touched by His mighty hand this year and by doing so, He touched the lives of many many more. i just dried the tears off of my eyes because of the nature of your story...."The willingness to share" shown by everybody here is The source of all the love that we have for one another, more than once this year have i been touched this way by you and other great OLFers. The only solution for you Kevin is to pay all of this forward when He decides you have received enough. I know you're a believer and that you trust Him for what He has planned for you and yours, so do i...

A fire that has happened in block 8 here has touched me in many ways, but most importantly, by His grace.

My best wishes to you big guy, i know you will come out very strong out of this

YF Serge