Hi MKSP Online Book Club Family,
I hope this message finds you well. I have some fun planned for you today here on the blog. But before we start the game, I want to wish you all a joyous holiday season.
I’m sure you can relate when I say the last two years have been hard. Most people I know have been through at least one deeply painful event and many have had one thing after another piling up until it seems there is no light left at the end of the tunnel.
Then add the holidays and you have a recipe for a broken heart. The concert you paid for, cancelled, the dinner you were invited, can’t go, the restaurant closed its doors, people are tired of being alone, fed up with illness, not being able to pay the bills, sick of having to cancel things because someone comes down with C-19. And then there are the more important loses. The people we love that were taken too early, the jobs that were lost, the freedoms taken away. Painful decisions to leave a home behind and move, fires, floods, you name it. I’m sick to death of this silent enemy stealing from the people I love, so I’d bet all of you feel the same way.
I’ve been in a place of reflection, asking that age old question, “why.” Why am I born to a time such as this when it seems there is nothing I can do? Why are the people who are here born to a time such as this? Why us, Lord? Why? I don’t have the answer for that, but I do know I’m here to hold out my arms and gather those who need an embrace, to encourage and support. And to offer ideas. I know I must continue to listen and pray and do my part in making things better for others.
With all that having been said I was given an idea to start up my blog again. Give a happy place for authors and readers to come together and combine it with my Big Fat Giveaway idea of 2008 – 2009 when things were really harsh financially. I helped a lot of people to turn away from negative thinking and I’m know it will help them again.
Let’s do a fun giveaway today. In the comment section below write up your favorite holiday memory. It doesn’t have to be long, one paragraph will do. Everyone who shares a memory will have their name put in a drawing. The winner will receive a ten-dollar Amazon gift card. The deadline will be tomorrow (Friday) at midnight Eastern time. Winner will be announced through the newsletter. So, if you’re not subscribed to the newsletter quickly sign up on the newsletter page of this website and then post your memory.
I’m really looking forward to reading everyone’s memories!
Best of luck to all of you,
Kim
My son and his wife’s visit from California when it was least expected. Everyone else in the family knew except me and my husband.
Surprises like that are awesome!
Hi Arlene,
This one hits ya right in the gut. Give my gratitude to Tanner for his service.
I have a feeling this year is one that will build new special memories. Have a beautiful Christmas!
Kim
Hey there Dianne!
I love these kinds of surprises. I can actually see your face. I bet that burst of joy stayed with you for quite some time.
Best of luck in the drawing and thanks for sharing your memory!
Picture a Soldier on his bunk. He is active Army and deployed to a war zone. Picture that Soldier’s mom thousands of miles away. She has sent her Soldier everything she can think of to make the holiday bearable for him.
Mom stumbles through the day. She doesn’t want to hear music, see lights or Christmas trees.
The Soldier rises from his bunk, straps on his vest and weapon. As he leaves his tent he wonders, “Did Mom check the mail? A slow smile graces his face. He knows her too well.
There’s a package. Mom walks a little faster to the house. Inside the box is a silver snowflake. The front is marked United States Army. The back is engraved, SPC Tanner O’Neil 2006. But how? How was he able to order a gift from the other side of the world?
Tears flow, but they are now happy tears. She knows he is okay; he is safe…for today. And for that single moment, a Soldier and a Mom are together.
Arlene,
Somehow my response to you ended up under Dianne’s story! Scroll up there to see it. Happy day before the night before Christmas. 😀
Since my friends and I don’t see each other for Christmas, my best friend started the tradition of exchanging gifts at midnight on New Year’s Eve. It started with her, her mom and I. The tradition now includes my best friend, her boyfriend, my boyfriend and myself. This year makes it special because my best friend and I will be at our new apartment.
I love this idea! What a great way to bring in the new year.
Thanks for sharing with us,
Kim
One of my most cherished holiday memories is when my parents created a doll house for me out of a cardboard box. I was only 9, and didn’t understand ‘poor.’ I LOVED that doll house for years. That is until the day my cat sat on the roof one too many times, lol!!
Love that!!! My son knew we were not very well off or even comfortable, but that never stopped him from doing anything for anyone. As he got older, he said he never wanted to be poor again. That mindset is what propelled him to a 20-year Army career. I love your parent’s creativity!
Dear Tamy,
Most of us understand cats. They are the majestic rulers of the dwelling. ha!
I love this story. All that love packed into that cardboard house! This is the kind of thing that would have been my favorite toy.
My favorite Christmas memories is having my entire family together especially my cousin who passed at the age of 51 singing and having a great time.
Dear Ileana,
Treasured memories, for sure. Nothing compares to family.
Thanks for sharing with us today. It helps bring joy to me.
Kim
I’d like to share…
Every one has a different take on the Christmas tree… Wether its just a decoration …to religious.
My tree has a special meaning to me.
I call it my tree of life, of my life.
The actual tree has changed through the years, starting with just a drawing of one on the wall when I couldn’t afford one… To the beautiful one I have now.. We even had one the kids called a charlie brown christmas tree and the base was a coffee can!
But every year an ornament has been added… And every one has a story, every one represents a time in my life.. Some good, some not so good.
Every year I put my tree up alone, I unwrap each ornament and remember… I laugh, I cry… And lovingly place it on the tree… Then at the end of the season ..I alone take it down and wrap each one … And repeat the process.
Tho now some are so old I can’t use them any more… But I still look at them. Like grammies glass one, so fragile.. And the one I made as a child out of walnuts, the ones the kids made out of cereal… They are saved in a box.
I won’t tell the story of each one but here’s a few that are on my tree.
The large red ball on the bottom, that was the first one I ever bought and placed on my first tree when I left home. I felt so free and safe that year. 52 yrs ago.
The crystal angel on top was placed the christmas before my other hubby died of cancer. 24 yrs ago.
The red santa my grandson who lived with me made from a toilet paper roll. 27 yrs ago.
The glass angel with feathers (that I manage to drop and break a piece off each yr) that my best friend gave me the yr she passed away. 22 yrs ago.
The blue ceramic bell that is a music box that was placed there for my mom, every yr I always gave her a music box for christmas ( about 41+ yrs) … I’ve lost her.
The stuffed cat that meows merry christmas… Place on the tree for him, the yr we lost our grandson (age 4) tragically. 19 yrs ago.
Scubby do who has sat on my tree for 48 yrs .. A son placed there.
The unicorn my daughter placed 47 yrs ago.
The ugly mouse at the top of the tree my youngest son refused to let go of in the store when he was two… Been there for 42 yrs.
The ornament I had specially made the yr my neighbors child who was 8 and being bullies at school… She had drawn me a pic of a flower… I had her come over and place it so she knew she was special and had a special place in my heart… She comes every yr to be sure its on the tree, lolol.
Actually they all come and check, lolol!
7 years ago my hubby gave me a miniature glass globe with a christmas tree inside that lights up…
The one my great grandson made me 5 yrs ago, he was killed last year in an auto accident, he was 18.
52 years of my life.. They survived many moves, a tornado, a hurricane, a flood, an earth quake, a fire… Many children, pets and a couple hubbys!
So here’s a pic of my tree of my tree this year.
“BE BLESSED!”
JoAnn, I do the same with ornaments. When I used to clean houses, I always left my customers an ornament with a note that said, “Whether I am still here next year or not, I do hope you will take this ornament and remember me…hopefully with a smile. I still have Baby’s First Christmas ornament as well as Baby’s First Christmas stocking, another that says Mom, and another that says Dad. They are 40 years old this year.
Dear JoAnn,
This is so incredible. Not just one memory, but a tree full of memories. I shed a few tears while reading.
Thank you for sharing this with our Koda family.
May your memories warm your Christmas this year,
Kim
Christmas was meant for baking Scandinavian Christmas cookies with my grandmother’s best friend in her magical kitchen. The smells of cardamom and oil, butter and anise. Krumkake rollled and dusted with powdered sugar as my mother and I laugh at the tales told about my grandmothers and Irene’s childhood in Norway.
Dear Kriss,
This puts me in mind of my Swedish grandmother. I so loved to listen to her sing in the kitchen as little puffs of powdered sugar would rise into the air.
Happy baking!
Kim
One year we’d gone to my aunt’s for Christmas and when everything was laid on the table, the middle collapsed. Fortunately there was some quick thinking that day and we managed to kep the dinner from hitting the floor. For years, it was a custom to check the table for safety.
A great memory and one that will bring a laugh to everyone as long as you live.
Kim
That’s a great memory!!! We had a dog once that acted just like a dog will when Mom put the turkey on the back porch so she could carve more later. No leftovers that year LOL!