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I am glad I have a Thanksgiving Tree. Not everyone has a Thanksgiving Tree.  And the only reason I have one is because frankly I am too lazy to take down our huge artificial Christmas tree. The [...]

I am glad my kids like me. Parenting is scary. You want to do the best, but sometimes doubt creeps in. Children do not come with a manual. My husband died when my daughter was 12 years old and my [...]

I am glad I found my writer’s voice. When I was a little girl , I enjoyed listening to stories. But I was not old enough to appreciate the author’s literary skills. In high school [...]

My mother’s brother and his family lived in Germany. Every Christmas we waited for a big wooden crate to arrive from Europe packed with beautiful gifts and German treats. One year, he sent [...]

The upcoming holiday season provides numerous opportunities for family gatherings. When nostalgia becomes an accelerant, we can fall victim to unrealistic expectations. So stay alert and keep it [...]

  Church. My family and I regularly walked there on Sunday mornings in Ames, New York, no matter the weather. Marching in a line, the six of us navigated the irregular slabs of the village’s [...]

Dear Santa, I need to know if you are real. My friend Joanie said of course you are real. She asked me, “Where else would all of the presents come from? Nobody has that much money!” She is the [...]

The frayed collar on my wool snow suit irritated my neck. My little fingers scraped the raw skin under my curls. There was no relief. The itching only made my neck bumpy and hot so I opened my [...]

  Towards the end of December, humanity turns up the volume and whispers can be hard to detect.  It becomes a challenge to tune in the frequency of our inner voice. Households fill up with [...]

You know those familiar whispers from The Ghost of Christmas Past: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” “I’ll be home for Christmas…” [...]