Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 31

A 1967 Christmas Story by Amy McVay Abbott

Christmastime brought magic to our rural Indiana town. Citizens visited the brick post office to mail cards and visit Postmaster Clarence Pook. Across the street at the library, Edna, the Story-Hour Lady, dressed in pioneer clothes, read holiday stories to children. The day after Thanksgiving, the volunteer firefighters hung giant red-and-white plastic candy canes from the lamps on State Street and displayed a life-size manger scene at the south end of town.

Snow came early and blanketed the grou...

The Time Between the Years by Sadira Stone

For those who celebrate, I hope you had a splendid Christmas. The roast beast (or your favorite holiday dish) has been consumed and the wrapping paper cleared away. Time to take a deep breath and enjoy a moment of quiet before the glitz and clamor of New Year’s Eve.

Though American by birth, I spent thirty years in Germany, where this period is called die Zeit zwischen den Jahren, or “the time between the years,” that quiet period between Christmas and New Year’s when we sit back, munch cookies,...

A Christmas Miracle by Pamela S. Thibodeaux

Photo from Crafts by AmandaThe ghost of Christmases past haunted our house again in 1993. To say we were poor, would be an untruth, but to say money was tight is an understatement. As in years before, funds seemed to vanish, leaving very little, if anything, for gifts. This year was one of the worst.

My husband, an outside salesman, hadn’t been paid since November, when his boss left town on an extended vacation from Thanksgiving through New Year, without paying his employees, and we were trying ...

Fullness by Liz Flaherty

I've so loved having guests every day through this season, and I'm grateful you've made them welcome. Isn't it fun reading their stories and connecting them to your own? I've been been both surprised and gratified by the reception the Window Holidays Project received. 

I've had this particular post started for days now. There is, if I'm honest about it, a bittersweetness to our Christmases anymore. Although I celebrate the birth of Jesus, and that hasn't changed--although my gratitude has grown, ...

Repeat the Sounding Joy... by Nan Reinhardt

I love to sing. I can’t sing. I mean I have a truly terrible voice, but I love to sing. Especially at Christmas. So Pandora’s Christmas Classics starts playing at our house before Thanksgiving and NPR gets switched to the Christmas station on the car radio as soon as B104.5 becomes all Christmas music all the time. I’ve played James Taylor’s holiday CD so many times I’m surprised it isn’t worn through and at least four times a week, I hunt for the Eagles version of “Please Come Home for Christma...

Fairy Tale Favorites by Darlene DeLuca

For our December meeting, my book club always has a special holiday edition. We call it the Salmon Feast, and we celebrate all the winter holidays, our friendship, and our bond in books. We add a fun gift exchange, complete with the opportunity to “steal” gifts. Sometimes I enjoy that aspect of the gift giving. Other years, not so much! And we often do something a little different than our usual someone-pick-a-book.

This year, we’ve decided to discuss fairy tales. Our assignment is to re-read ou...

New Christmas Traditions by Jana Richards

All my childhood Christmas memories center around food and family. My parents both came from large families, most of whom lived on farms or small towns close to us. Between Christmas Eve and New Year's day, we feasted at a different relative’s house every day. On Christmas Eve, after the children’s Christmas concert at the church, we ate at my maternal grandparents’ house. My grandmother wasn’t happy until we’d stuffed ourselves so full we could barely walk. I looked forward to strudel at Granny...

The Gift of Giving by Holly Jacobs

I was born in August…despite my holiday name. My mom was thrilled that she’d found a name that wouldn’t have a nickname. Which explains why I’ve spent most of my life as Hall.  Maybe it’s my name, or maybe my love of glee…but I’ve always loved the holidays.

A few years ago, I started a tradition with the kids in my life—affectionately known as The Minions online. As part of their Christmas present, I give them all the gift of giving. Yes, I think giving is a gift. Their gift is sponsoring an anim...

Remembering Holly and Ivy by Kathleen Lawless

Reading has been a part of my life since I could first sound out words and turn the pages of a book. One Christmas when I was around five or six, The Story of Holly and Ivy appeared under the Christmas tree, my first hardcover book. My name is still on the inside cover in childish letters. I cherished it always and still do.

During those early years, my mother read it aloud to me and my brothers and sister. After she passed, I continued to read it over and over through the years, graciously loan...

Remembering and Making New by Bonnie Edwards

Oh, Christmas! How we love our traditions, even if they’re created by someone else. There are many “traditions” around this upcoming holiday. Some are so old; I doubt anyone really knows for certain where and how they started. Some are newer but have been around long enough that we don’t even think about how they came to be.

Some from my childhood:

Opening one gift on Christmas Eve. (Mom made sure to pass me the wrapped pajamas so I’d be in new ones for pictures in the morning.)

An orange in our...