Yes Virginia, Southie Spirit is Alive and Well

DEAR EDITOR: I am a life long resident of South Boston
Some of my yuppie friends say there is no "Southie" anymore
Papa says, 'If you see it on SouthBostonoffline it's so.'
Please tell me the truth; is the "old" Southie gone forever ?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"EAST BROADWAY SOUTH BOSTON."

VIRGINIA, your yuppie friends are wrong. They have been affected by the shallowness of a shallow upbringing. They do not understand the bonds we have here and always will have. They think that nothing can be which is not viewable on a blackberry or searchable on Google. Some minds, Virginia, simply do not understand the bonds that bind us here. The fierceness of our sense of responsibility to one another is not something easily understood by folks who did not grow up here. Mostly, Virginia, its not their fault, they just are different and that's OK, they grew up differently, had different experiences and in many cases a lack of them, but always remember Virginia, Southie is YOUR town. 

Yes, VIRGINIA, Southie Spirit is alive and well, It exists as certainly as hundreds of our neighbors will turn out for a "time" for a friend in need, as certain as it is that you can trust a friend from 5th grade with your life, even though you barely see each other anymore-but that doesn't matter-it's just understood. It exists just as sure as local store owners always do the right thing by their customers, not because they want their money but because they know they are our neighbors too. Alas! how dreary would be this town if there were no Southie Spirit. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS! There would be no friendly hellos at the coffee shop, no "catch up" conversations walking around the Island. There would be no neighbors asking you how you are and being genuinely interested in the answer. There would be no Friends who would drop what they were doing at a moments notice to mind your kids because they know that you would do the same thing for them. Virginia, there is no place like South Boston, the benefits and lessons you learn here, good and bad, will serve you well throughout your life, and the spirit lives on stronger than ever before !

Not believe in Southie Spirit! You might as well not believe in Character or Strength! You might be able to buy a bigger house somewhere, maybe even a yard too, but the emptiness that replaces the souls of the citizens of this town will ring a lonely echo in your heart once you are gone. You can go somewhere far away and get a driveway Virginia, but at what cost? You won't enjoy that common bond that, even in the worst of storms, has our neighbors helping shovel each others spots out when they are done with their own, talking about current events and just enjoying each others company.

Southie Spirit,.... but even if they did not understand what it is Virginia, it does not mean it does not still exist ? People who were not born and raised here cannot truly understands Southie spirit, but that is no sign that there is NO Southie Spirit. The most real things in the world are those that can be felt in a handshake or a genuine embrace, things that children nor men can always see. Value and worth are not measured here in terms of stainless steel appliances or granite countertops Virginia -they are measured in terms like loyalty and character, and born from those-friendship and respect. Some of our friends and neighbors have left Virginia , this is sadly true but to say Southie Spirit is gone could not be further from the truth, the people like you and I that remain value and protect it more than ever !

Virginia, like all places on this earth we are not perfect but this place and the connections we have all made here sharing lifes bumps and bruises on this soil is something very special. Southie Spirit is alive in the soul of everyone who has shared the thrill of watching family and friends grow from kindergarten, grammer school and to high school, having children and watching the process start all over again! Southie Spirit is alive and well in the genuine, heartfelt embrace of a neighbor at a wake, in the jumper cables of the car that didn't just keep going and in the generosity of people who lend a helping hand when everything seems lost. 

No Southie Spirit! Thank God! it lives, and it lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, it will continue to make glad the hearts of all the citizens of South Boston!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !!!