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Shodair supporters help make Christmas a success D
uring the holiday, make the holidays memorable, and we couldn’t all of us at Shothank you enough. dair were amazed and Like the rest of the thankful for the support world, we have had many and donations we rehurdles to overcome due ceived from the community to make the holidays to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many special for of those chalpatients lenges remain, in our Craig Aasved yet our pacare. As CEO of Shodair tients cona father I Children’s Hospital tinue to get know how the best care magical possible because of the this time of year is to children, and the amazing greater Shodair family. Keeping the Christmas team at Shodair works spark lit isn’t easy in an hard to create a compaacute and residential psyrable level of joy during chiatric hospital, yet year the holiday season deafter year, our patients are spite the challenges and blessed by others far betreatments our patients yond our walls in Helena. are undergoing. Each We continue to take year, it’s because of these extra precaution to congenerous donors that we can achieve that goal and trol the potential expo-
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sure to patients and their families, which meant that many kids had to spend the holiday away from the comfort of home and familiar loved ones. Although I knew it would be a challenge for families and patients during the holidays, I had full confidence that our staff at Shodair would go above and beyond to support patient needs and create meaningful memories. And that is exactly what happened. We hosted safe holiday activities such as movie nights, cookie decorating, sledding in the snow, and even a VIP visit from Santa himself. Children got PJs and hot cocoa on Christmas eve and parents were invited to enjoy
Why do politicians lie? W
e’ve all heard the quip, “how do you know when a politician is lying?” Answer: His lips are moving. But there’s another obvious question that begs an obvious answer. Why do politicians lie? Answer: Because they can. The American media – or what could once be
legitimately called the media – draws our attention every day to the lies they have caught their least-favored politicians saying. Often, they are incredibly blatant. The furrowed brows on the left (CNN, MSNBC and Roger Koopman the major networks), were almost gleeful when they could trip up Trump in a self-serving fib. Carlson, Hannity and
Valley Views
10 - February 9, 2022
other featured fellows on Fox News hold forth with an unending stream of reported fabrications and falsehoods, readily provided by a desperate president and his administration of race-baiters and pointy-headed socialists. Here’s the rub. Almost all the politicians’ lies, left and right, have been accurately identified by these outfits. We should be shocked. We should
a delicious Christmas dinner with their child at the hospital. I am always inspired with the staff ’s ability to put the kids’ needs first, often before their own family. Although their job is difficult and demanding, they put their whole heart into their work, and it makes all the difference. Finally, the amazing generosity of others brought gifts to every single patient, and we could not have made the holiday so magical without the support of the community. Past patients, state agencies, volunteers, students, local businesses, and community members made contributions and offered their time to serve the patients at
Shodair. We received, gifts from Toys for Tots, and an additional $3,000 for patient gifts that were handpicked by our staff. PetSmart also made the season merry by giving each patient an animal toy. As we get ready for this Hallmark holiday of love on Feb. 14, I want to express my love for all Shodair’s family and friends across Montana. Feeling loved by another is one of the greatest gifts we can give any person – especially a child. And, I can say without a single doubt that everyone at Shodair felt loved by others. On behalf of the board of directors, the staff, our partners, patients, and their fami-
be outraged. But we forget about them in an hour or a day, numbed by the sheer volume of fibbery that enters our weary brains. We figure, eh. They’re politicians. What more can we expect? Our office holders protect themselves in a blanket of citizen cynicism that they themselves have woven. The blanket remains intact because our standards are so very low. We better think about
this very carefully. Just how accepting of practiced, self-aggrandizing lying have we become – and what does it mean to the very soul of our country? Does truth – and truthful communication – really matter in this day and age? Maybe Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson answered that question best in a May ‘21 inter-
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lies, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for blessing our organization. We are so grateful to be part of such a close knit, statewide, and loving community.
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