Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 32

The Most Wonderful time of...Mistakes, by MJ Schiller

Christmas time. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right? And the most hectic. And hectic can sometimes lead to mistakes, at least in my book. We’re all running around so distracted, marking off things on our lists—shopping, cooking, cleaning, parties… We’re taken out of the moment, and those kinds of distractions can cause missteps. We see more frequent fender benders. Experience more times we forget appointments. Leave credit cards on counters. Leave purses, gloves, sunglasses behind. A...

Christmas Journeys by Carol James

Christmas was always a special time growing up. Yet, I can remember only one spent with aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. My father was a career military officer, so we lived away from family.

But our home was never empty. It was filled with friends and airmen who also had no family nearby. Dad made certain no one under his command had to spend Christmas alone, and Mom made the holidays fun and festive for whoever filled our house.

Early in our marriage, when my h...

When Wishes Come True by Peggy Jaeger

So here’s a fact: I’m a girl.

Shocker, right?

LOL.

If you are a toy connoisseur you recognize this ornament



as Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots, a very popular toy in the 1960s. When I was five years old I wanted this toy. Bad! I put it on my list to Santa three years running from 1965-68. When the third Christmas morning without finding it under the tree occurred, my mother said, with a cigarette in one hand, a cup of black coffee in the other, and her hair in pink rollers, "That toy is for boys. Santa doe...

Memories, Lights, and Moments by Kristina Knight

I’ve got holiday music (right now it’s Burl Ives singing “Silver and Gold”) playing the background, Sparkling Cinnamon melting in my Yankee Candle Scenterpiece (it’s red with white snowflakes on it), and a cup of cocoa at my elbow. Our tree is up and decorated, the last of the gifts have been wrapped…

We are ready for the holiday season.

As it always does, getting ready for the holidays got me thinking about a few of my favorite things – there is the Christmas ball that my grandmother made for m...

Time for a Book Flood by Margie Senechal

In the spring of 1969, my mom, my sister, and I joined my dad in Keflavik, Iceland, where he’d been stationed. He’d gone on ahead of us to find us a place to live because housing on base was scarce.

We began our stay in Iceland off-base living above an Icelandic family of five, who had three kids all around my sister’s and my ages. I remember playing in the snow under streetlights and my sister getting hit in the eye with a rock disguised as snowball by some neighbor kid.

Over the years, I’ve ta...

THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE Cheryl St. John

I love this time of year, especially because I love Christmas trees and all the decorations. I’ve been working on thinning out my storage room, since I had enough ornaments to decorate trees with six different themes. I used to put up four trees, but we’ve downsized and I have to get my mind around the fact that I need less.

Every year since our children were small, we’ve spent an evening driving around and enjoying the lights. The houses are so lovely. Some people are extreme in their decoratin...

THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE Cheryl St.John

I love this time of year, especially because I love Christmas trees and all the decorations. I’ve been working on thinning out my storage room, since I had enough ornaments to decorate trees with six different themes. I used to put up four trees, but we’ve downsized and I have to get my mind around the fact that I need less.

Every year since our children were small, we’ve spent an evening driving around and enjoying the lights. The houses are so lovely. Some people are extreme in their decoratin...

Blue Christmas is More Than An Elvis Presley Song by Anna Taylor Sweringin

Happy Holidays is a beautiful sentiment if the holidays aren’t a time of grief and loss for you. The themes of the Advent wreath – hope, peace, joy and love – can feel very far off if you’re experiencing a dark night of the soul while everyone around you is singing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Platitudes and cliches only deepen the sense of isolation one feels when everyone else is cheerful and you’re not.

That’s why when I became responsible for pastoral care at First Presbyterian...

A Sutton Family Christmas by Charley Sutton

Two weeks before Christmas, my parents would take us to Kmart. We weren’t looking to take advantage of blue light specials. We were heading to the Christmas tree lot. We would sort through the trees to find one around six foot tall. It had to have enough room between the top and the ceiling for the tree topper to fit. We’d find the perfect tree that was just the right height.

We’d get it home, and Dad would cut the twine that bundled it into a misshapen tube, cut a couple inches off the bottom o...

My Christmas Treasure by Vicki Batman

My family lived in typical suburbia with a great neighbor next door. After Thanksgiving, Mom gathered her ingredients, decamped to Mrs. Owen's house, and made divinity. Mom brought home tins filled with goodies in pale pastel shades.

One year, Mrs. Owen brought Mom a Christmas gift. Nestled inside the box sat a Styrofoam angel. She was approximately eight inches tall with curls of silvery white hair. Sequins fashioned her eyes, nose, and mouth. She was so pretty, and I fell in love.

For a long t...