Let’s begin with a simple question about what you did on Christmas. I was going to celebrate it with Ti Ti, my granddaughter. I’d make her breakfast of scrambled eggs and a toasted Asiago bagel with butter and honey. Then, we would take Ginger on our daily walk that circumnavigates the lake, which I do every morning, whether it is sunny or snowy outside. Ginger would be happy to have Ti Ti accompany us on our trek.

After returning from our walk, we would open gifts and chat. It would be a heavenly reunion, remembering a litany of memories we have shared since we met a dozen years ago. On Christmas evening, we would go to the opening night of the new movie, Song Sung Blue.

However, due to Trump’s recent tightening of the travel ban from Myanmar, which is one of the 19 banned countries, Ti Ti won’t be spending Christmas with Ginger and me. Nonetheless, I attended the opening night of Song Sung Blue.

It is a true love story about Mike and Claire Sardina, who lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mike admired Neil Diamond like millions of others throughout the world, including me. Mike and Claire called themselves Lightning and Thunder.

Mike was a struggling wannabe singer; his dream was to be like Neil Diamond. He was a singer impersonator, even though he preferred to be called a Neil Diamond interpreter. Regardless, he was very good at being like Neil Diamond. Still, he hardly made enough money to make it to his next gig. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop dreaming of being as successful as Neil Diamond.

As I watched Mike struggle, it didn’t take long before I identified with him. To be honest, I can’t sing. I’d fail at even being a karaoke singer. Nonetheless, I have my dreams, which have to do with assisting my family in Myanmar. When I first met Ti Ti, she was 9 years old and wanted to play Scrabble with me.

This is Ti Ti, who is 21, and will soon be graduating from Gusto University sometime in January or February. Her degree is a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Computer Systems Engineering, and she wants to deal with AI.

Ti Ti had applied three times for a student visa at the US Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar. Ti Ti could have attended the college where I taught, but she wasn’t given a reason for all three rejections.

These three pictures consist of Ti Ti’s study office, the living room with photos that I took while in Myanmar, and her bedroom.

Since Trump has restricted Myanmar citizens from either visiting or living here in the States, I wrote to Prime Minister Carney of Canada about the possibility of moving to Canada. His administrative assistant sent me a very caring reply and provided the documents necessary to apply to live in Canada. My dream is that Ti Ti, her family, and I could immigrate to Canada.

All that is lacking to realize my dream is filling out the forms and finding the bread to obtain my dream. To move a family of 5 and me to Canada, provide housing, furnishings, and related costs is staggering. To support my family presently means that I am borrowing from my home equity loan.

My world isn’t much different than Mike’s world. I know how he felt. I’m living month to month so that I can help my family. I retired from teaching college when I turned 80. In fact, Ti Ti took the last online class that I taught. This link, College Days, is Ti Ti’s section of my website. If you scroll down the index page, the last two articles are about her first college class that her PaPa Al taught.

Asking me whether I will quit is like asking Mike in his struggle to realize his dream. It is not even a question for me to answer. They are my family; how do you stop being there for them? There is an old saying, “No pain, no gain.” Pain in life is a benefit if one uses it. Pain motivates one to fight on.

There is also my mantra, “It is in giving that we get.” Grasping my saying is essential to a meaningful life. Reaching out to others, in any form, to assist them does help the recipient. However, you, as the giver, benefit as much as the recipient does. Giving to others reduces the pain of worrying about their needs.

This is an addendum. While both those sayings are absolutely true, there is a problem. The problem is A Ngal Lay. She is my great-granddaughter, whom I discovered when my family and I went on our family tour together. She lives in the small village of Set Set Yo. I also wire transfer funds monthly to her family. And my dreaming goes on and on.

This is A Ngal Lay today. I need to include her and her family.

As a result, I hear in my head a beautiful noise.

This is a CBS Sunday Morning interview with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.

This NBC Today’s interview is Lightning and Thunder.