Merry Christmas to All and To All a Good Night!

On this night, as I close in on the 66th Christmas of my life, I reflect on so many Christmases Past.

There have been many which included small children with so many memories of rising early and snapping pictures of excited children opening presents. 

Christmas brings back memories for all of us.  Some of them amazingly wonderful...some sad.  Sometimes these are the most difficult days of the year for those who have suffered the loss of a loved one and are facing the first holiday without them. 

I remember one Christmas that always comes back to me at this time of year.  That Christmas in 1968 my husband was in Viet Nam, along with thousands of other young men/husbands/brothers/fathers.  As I sat beneath my Christmas tree on Christmas morning with a 2 month old baby and a 16 month old toddler, I didn't know exactly where my husband was, or if and when he would return.  It was a terribly lonely time.  My parents were stationed overseas and I was really alone except for those two little babes who were too young to understand.  As we go into this Season of Joy I think of all of those mothers and small children going through that same feeling this Christmas.  I am happy that there is SKYPE and email for them...so that many of them can at least see their loved ones.  I am sad for all of those whose loved ones were lost this year.

While Christmas can be the happiest and most joyful season of the year for some, it can be the most painful for others.  I hope that if you know someone who is alone, or needs comforting at this time of year, you will reach out to them to make the season a little easier.  You will never know how just a kind word or invitation to a concert or an offer to babysit while a mom shops can bring joy to someone else.  Christmas really is about sharing.  It is about love and giving to others.  When we are children, the focus seems to be about receiving, about gifts; but as we age, we begin to see that the real blessing in Christmas comes when we GIVE.  We need to remember to give during this Season the way our Heavenly Father has given to us. 

Remember to go to that Christmas Eve service or Midnight Mass and bathe in the joy of the Greatest Gift ever given.

PEACE, LOVE & JOY TO ALL

Linda

Memories Are Made of This!

This time last year I was preparing to leave for Shanghai, China and Thailand.  One of the most memorable moments I had was petting this glorious tiger. Isn't he the most beautiful animal?

At this time of year I seem to run over all the memories from my past.  How about you?  Family memories, vacation memories, bucket list memories.  What are some of yours? 

I have been watching the Hallmark Channel for the last couple days.  They have all kinds of romantic Christmas movies on right now.  I have spent some time thinking back on some of the most romantic moments in my life too.  I love you.  Will you marry me.  Stolen kisses.  Whispered secrets.  And how about special moments when you were raising your children?   Special Christmas memories?  One Christmas when we were stationed in Ft. Sill, Okalahoma, so very far away from family, my husband arranged for me and my baby son to fly home to visit with my family.  On Christmas Eve, however, I was really missing my husband.  Suddenly there was a ring at the front door of my parents home, and there he was!  What a wonderful Christmas surprise.  The next Christmas I would spend alone however, with my small son and a two month old baby girl, praying as I sat beneath the Christmas tree with them that my husband would return home safely from VietNam.

This is a difficult time of year for a lot of people.  Sometimes it is filled with sad memories.  Sometimes people are just plain lonely.  So, as you think on happy memories, how about thinking of sharing with those who are less fortunate than you are whether in memories or in "things".  Share your joy.  Take your children to sing carols at nursing homes.  Pick a star off an Angel Tree.  Give to the Salvation Army.  And, make MORE memories with your own family and friends. 

PEACE -  LOVE & JOY

Christmas Memories

The time is passing quickly.  Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, and then before we know it ... Christmas. 

This will be our first Christmas in Utah.  I am sure there will be more snow by then...there is already quite a bit of snow on the mountain tops.  It is really quite beautiful.  Because of so many moves, I have only kept a few special ornaments.  Many of those I had when the children were small, I have already given to them.
I want to have a real nice and smelly Christmas tree this year since we are out here in the West and there are beautiful spruce trees everywhere!  We are going to be living on the third floor of an apartment building with no elevator, so it will be a small one I'm sure! 

This time of year is always a melancholy one for me.  Oh, not sad really, just thoughtful.  I remember all the Christmases when the children were small.  I remember wonderful services at Church and participating in beautiful musicals.  I love singing.  I haven't affiliated with a Church out here yet, as we had not settled.  I have visited a few.  We will be in Layton after next week, so I will probably investigate one there.  I look forward to celebrating the Birth of the King!  It is a magical time of year.  Funny how even though I know there was no snow at the birth of Christ, somehow the pure white snow seems so appropriate. 

One Christmas I remember in particular was the year I had an automobile accident on December 3rd.  I had been selling Real Estate, and so had no health insurance or benefits.  The accident was not my fault, but I suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized for over a week.  It took two months to heal.  I was feeling terrible about the fact that the children (11 and 13 at the time) were not going to have much of a Christmas with me stuck in a recliner at home and unable to work.  But it actually turned out to be a really special Christmas.  Those two kids both did things like putting up peoples decorations, babysitting, etc. to earn extra money.  I had already done their Christmas shopping for hte most part (although they didn't know that).  They earned extra money and helped to contribute to the family.  They didn't demand or expect a huge Christmas.  A friend arranged to get a wheelchair for me and we attended a Nativity presentation at Disney.  I was happy to have survived the accident and that my little son had not been injured in it (he was in the car when it occurred).  There was much to be thankful for! 

Do you think about "Christmas Past" when this time of year approaches?  Do you focus on the "real" meaning of Christmas?  I think all the Santa stuff is fun, but I hope that at this mystical, magical time of year we can put the significance of Christmas above all else and focus on what we have to be the most thankful for...the birth of Christ and what it means!  The Greatest Gift ever given!  God Bless you all as you prepare for this Holiday Season.   Make sure you "pay it forward" and give something to others. 

PEACE, LOVE & JOY

Linda

Happiness Is....

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. Helen Keller

I don't know what happiness is for you...spending time with children or grandchildren, going to the beach, practicing a fulfilling hobby or maybe it is your work. What makes a person "happy" is as different between individuals as in falling snowflakes.

One of the things that I am "happy" doing, is canning great fruits and vegetables each year that I can use through the winter. Today let's do Peach Butter, one of my husband's very favorite things...it makes him smile, and that makes me happy!

SPICED PEACH BUTTER

Yields 8 half-pint jars

* 12 cups peaches, peeled and diced
* 1 cup honey
* 6 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
* 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker (crock pot). Cook on low heat for about 12 hours. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth. Cook for an additional hour or two, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. (You may want to remove the lid on your slow cooker for a little while to let some of the steam escape and give the peach butter a chance to thicken up just a bit.)

A shelf fully of "happy" in my pantry!

Now, if you are not crazy about the "spice" you can opt to leave the spices out and instead add about 1/4 cup brown or white sugar instead of the honey and spices. Believe me, either way it is a family favorite!

I usually cut (with pinking shears) small circles out of Christmas Printed material (Hobby Lobby always has great fabrics early in the season) and put atop the jars and tie with rafia. This makes great Christmas gifts for co-workers or neighbors, if your family will let you part with any of it!

Using Your Hands

Kindness is a language the dumb can speak and the deaf can hear and understand. Christian Nestel Bovee

I was thirteen when I first met Larry at Bible School. We became instant friends. Larry was a tall, dark and handsome young man with curly hair any girl would kill for! Larry was different from any boy I had ever met. Not just in the way he looked, but Larry was totally deaf. He had lost his hearing as a one year old due to a severe case of measles.

The first day I met Larry he gave me one of those cards with the letters of the American Sign Language alphabet on it. I took it home and began to work diligently on learning every letter. Larry could read lips, but I felt like it would mean a lot to him if we could sign to each other.

I can't tell you how excited he was the next day when I could actually sign a few words. It seemed that although he had been deaf from such a young age, no one in his immediate family had taken the time to learn sign language. Larry began to teach me word signs as well as the letters, and soon we were "talking" to each other fairly rapidly. Larry would teach me signs, and I would let him put his hands on the side of my throat to "feel" the sounds. Larry could actually vocalize, but had to be taught to do so. I loved being able to help him learn new words. I will never forget some of the "signs"...milk for instance is signed like your hands milking a cow...too funny and too easy!

I enjoyed being able to talk with Larry, and wanted others to be able to also. One of my readers, Betty Lou, who was a childhood neighbor of mine, reminded me tonight of a childhood memory she had. She remembered night in our tent in the back yard when I was teaching she and my sister, Dale, sign language by signing in shadows on the tent. I had forgotten that night. Betty Lou has a great memory...because she is several years younger than I am!

I started practicing signing the news. Boy, that is one way to speed up your signing skills. I loved to be able to sign the church sermons to Larry when someone was speaking in a way that was difficult for him to lip read.

Larry and I stayed close for several years, and I attended some activities at the Maryland School For The Deaf. We once attended a basketball game at Galludet College for the Deaf. It was interesting to see people communicating across the gymnasium by signing. The game was exciting and we had so much fun.

Larry actually played Little League Baseball with hearing boys of his own age. I wet to a lot of his games. He was great. Most of the boys he played against didn't even realize he couldn't hear. He was such an inspiration to so many. He hated it when people thought of him as "handicapped." Believe me, he wasn't!

Many, many years have passed. Larry and I went our separate ways after high school, but I have heard he was quite successful in his work. I always knew he would be.

I went on to go to become a Registered Nurse. I used my signing ability many times during my career, and always remembered Larry fondly.

Larry was the perfect example of an "overcomer." He never let his inability to hear get in the way of his joy of life. The only time I ever felt sorry for him, was when they would play beautiful music in Church and he couldn't "hear" it. But, amazing young man that he was, he "felt" the rhythm and enjoyed it.

Do you know an "overcomer?" Someone who has had a fruitful and successful life in spite of the difficulties that have been put in their path? I would love to hear from you.