Keeping Christmas in Transformational Fiction

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Sep 14, 2017 Beverly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: christian-author, women-s-lit, young-adult, contemplative, christian-contemporary, christian-women, christian-ya, christmas-stories, empty-nest

For many folks, Christmas is a happy time of year. It's filled with warm cozy memories, family, food and fun. But it is not that way for everyone. For some people this holiday only brings them pain and emptiness. There may be bad memories or a lack of good memories. What then? Keeping Christmas by Dan Walsh is all about one couple dealing with the emptiness of loss at one of the most family oriented times of the year.

Stan and Judith Winters are empty nesters. And this year it was painfully For many folks, Christmas is a happy time of year. It's filled with warm cozy memories, family, food and fun. But it is not that way for everyone. For some people this holiday only brings them pain and emptiness. There may be bad memories or a lack of good memories. What then? Keeping Christmas by Dan Walsh is all about one couple dealing with the emptiness of loss at one of the most family oriented times of the year.

Stan and Judith Winters are empty nesters. And this year it was painfully obvious. Their three children are grown, married, with families and good jobs. And they are scattered all over the US. None were able to come home for Thanksgiving, and Judith has just learned that none of them will be able to afford to come home for Christmas either. This has put Judith into a deep depression which she has been unable to shake. Stan and Judith's best friends, Barney and Betty (I don't know their last names, but it probably isn't Rubble!) even tried to cheer Judith up. Nothing seemed to work. Stan knew there had to be a solution to the problem, but he just couldn't think what it could be.

There were so many poignant moments in this book. Judith's feelings are understandable and very true for many other people dealing with the empty nest. It drew me in, made me feel a little sad as I read her plight. But even though the predominant problem is sad, there were still plenty of funny and even feel-good moments. I enjoyed the book so much, in fact, that I have read it several times in the past couple of years.

My favorite part of the story was a discussion between Judith and Betty about their husbands. Keep in mind that this book is written by a male author, so it was so surprising to read their discussion about how men seem to have switches on their feelings, and how often they can switch off those feelings while the wife just can't do that. The discussion was precious. I found myself agreeing, "Yeah, how is that possible?" The author nailed that conversation.

The second most favorite part about the story was the description of the ugly ornaments and their significance. Again, I felt a heart tug here because our children and I used to make ornaments when they were younger. There were a lot of fond memories wrapped up in those years. As it turns out, those ornaments play an important part in the resolution, which was a perfect way to end the book. Even if you're not an empty nester, I believe you'll enjoy reading this story.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the author and Revell. I was not required to write a review, positive or otherwise. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” ...more

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Nov 07, 2015 Andi Tubbs rated it it was amazing

Shelves: empty-shelf-2015

Dan has once again written a book that tugs at your emotions and pulls you right into the story. You will need a box of tissues for this one. Being an empty-nester I could relate to Judith. We have six kids all spread out and we don't get to see them nearly as often as I'd like. There was a lot of nostalgic familial trend throughout the book which brought back memories of my Christmases as a child and with my children. This is a great book that will put you in the Christmas spirit.

Highly recomme ...more

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Jan 06, 2023 Jenn Sands rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: christmas, 2023

I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though the topic was close to my time in life. I was a powerful act of love. I think this is definitely a good book to read if you’re navigating the empty nest adjustment. I read the new updated version of this book.

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