For the Love of Christmas: True Stories of Amazingly Magical Holiday Moments PDF
Preview For the Love of Christmas: True Stories of Amazingly Magical Holiday Moments
Health Communications, Inc. HCI Books, the Life Issues Publisher Deerfield Beach, Florida www.hcibooks.com Contents Introduction Making Spirits Bright: Spreading Good Will and Good Cheer The Lineup Nancy Bechtolt It’s a Wrap Peggy Frezon Finding Santa Claus Elisa Korentayer A Song for Santa Linda O’Connell Christmas in July Todd Outcalt Up Front Terri Elders Owed to Joy Ted Thompson Of Evergreens and Fake Firs: The Trees We’ve Known and Loved All in a Row Anne Culbreath Watkins Tinsel Time Joanne Hirase-Stacey Visions of Tree Trimming Dance in Our Heads Marybeth Hicks Silent Night Carla Zwahlen The Too-Tall Tree Peggy Frezon Out on a Limb Andrea Langworthy Christmas Outside the Box: Offbeat and Untraditional Celebrations Oy, Come All Ye Faithful Dorri Olds Goodwill to Men Sonja Herbert Christmas in Germany: The Naked Truth Lori Hein Christmas Blues Kathe Campbell The Tree That Ryma Built Ryma Shohami Glad Tidings of Great Joy: Heartfelt and Holy Moments Drawing Names Nancy Edwards Johnson Unto You a Child Is Born Helen Colella The Red Bike J. Vincent Dugas Drawn to the Warmth Carol McAdoo Rehme Yuletide in the Tropics Connie Alexander Huddleston Bah, Humbug! When Christmas Seems More Blue Than White The Butterfly Tree Jeanne Hill The Ghosts of Christmas Past Joseph Hesch Radio Flyer Todd Outcalt Christmas on the Street Pat Mendoza Holidaze Diane Perrone Wonderful Life Caroline Grant Talking Turkey: Holiday Food and Other Fiascos Eating at Two Robert W. Howe The Right Ingredients Robyn Kurth Golumpki (Pigs in a Blanket) Recipe Meatball Madness Candace Simar The Proof Is in the Pudding Donna Rushneck Mom’s Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe The Pied Pepper Jaye Lewis Yuletide Traditions: Cherished Customs and Memories Log Cabin Christmas John Winsor Tea for You Jean Richert as told to Carol McAdoo Rehme Holiday Blockbuster Debbi Wise What a Card Andrea Langworthy Cumbered Christmas Wanda Quist The Best Time of the Year Christopher Garry Recipes Mint-Infused Leg of Lamb Gingered Brussels Sprouts Hash with Golden Raisins Spicy Blackened Shrimp with Cranberry-Orange Salsa Mixed Greens Salad Goat Cheese and Pistachio Nut Crostini Tabbouleh with Mint and Cranberries Christmas Cran-Apple Martini Roast Turkey with Cranberry Orange Glaze A Simple But Sinful Stuffing Santa’s Spicy Molasses Cookies Chocolate Fudge North Pole Peppermint Pie Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Caramel Drizzle The Writers About the Author Copyright Credits Introduction I ’ve seen Christmas from all angles: As a child growing up in Wisconsin, I counted the days until we could wake up on a likely snow-filled Christmas morning and enjoy our special family breakfast before bursting into the living room to look at the beautifully decorated tree and the presents beneath it. As a wife and mom of two, I won—and lost—my share of “too-tall-tree debates” with my husband. Then as a widowed mom, with no money for rent, let alone presents, I had to find creative ways to make the holidays memorable. Over the years, I’ve learned that if you mix a little practicality with some creativity and a little Yuletide spirit, you can create a magical holiday season— and the joyful memories and traditions that go with it. Throughout this book, you’ll read true stories from others about sweet and tender holiday moments, holiday menus gone awry or the turkey that got away, stories of the Christmas blues made brighter by an act of kindness, or the moment someone was reminded of the true meaning of the season. It is my hope that you and your family have a magical holiday—and carry the Christmas spirit with you all the year through. Making Spirits Bright: Spreading Good Will and Good Cheer The Lineup By Nancy Bechtolt C hristmas Eve day. One-half shopping day left and this was it. Husband Dick and I, son Rick, and his family descended on the city mall with a mixture of excitement and panic, precipitated by the knowledge that visions of sugarplums were due to start dancing in a matter of hours. Expeditiously finishing my shopping first, I found an empty chair bordering the main walkway through the mall and settled down for an innocent orgy of people watching. One familiar motto caught my eye on a passing sweatshirt: Practice senseless beauty and random acts of kindness. I wondered if the wearer or in fact anyone in the mall that day had time for such luxuries. Sounded unlikely. My attention soon drifted across the procession of shoppers straight into the living room of a Nordic cottage where Santa Claus and an itinerant lapful of radiant believers sat enthroned in an ample maple rocking chair. Behind him a painted fire roared silently in its huge fireplace. Beside him stood a real Christmas tree trimmed with ropes of fake cranberries and popcorn and genuine candy canes. I was close enough to notice a sheen of perspiration form along the line of Santa’s white beard and to hear all of his Christmas questions and most of their answers. A long queue of eager lap replacements and resigned parents wound down the mallway. The line was at least an hour long. That was going to challenge a few Christmas spirits. Two adjacent families about halfway through the line caught my eye. The first was a mother and a group of little boys about two, four, and five years old. The smallest was corralled in a stroller. That was the good news. The other two were free agents, poking, scuffling, and pushing in the red-blooded way little boys have that amuses onlookers and drives mothers to consider substance abuse. The children were neatly but modestly dressed in matching red sweatshirts that seemed to have suffered a few indignities from prior owners. But their faces
The list of books you might like
