ALL LIT UP My sisters and I would eagerly sit in the back seat together while mom and dad drove around DeLand to see the houses all lit up for Christmas. The DeLand Sun News would publish a list of the “best-decorated houses”. It was quite something to see the displays. Barbara and I and
LIGHT A CANDLE “Better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” A single candle does have amazing power. The light from a single candle can transform a pitch-black dark room. I hear what the proverb is saying. I understand the physics. I get the focus on the positive. But, I think I will do
I DON’T HAVE ANY WRAPPING PAPER For years and years, I wrapped all Christmas presents in the Sunday comics. It probably started because I was a bit rebellious and wanted to do my own thing. It was colorful. It didn’t cost me anything. The presents stood out in the pile under the tree. And then,
DO YOU HAVE ANY CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS? Someone told me last week, at their house, they hide a pickle in the Christmas tree. The children, without touching anything, try to find it. And a prize goes to the child who does. I’m not sure if they eat the pickle afterwards. At another house, they always read
I RANG THE WRONG BELL It was Christmas Eve. I was in the handbell choir joining others ringing well-known Christmas carols. Each of us had two or three bells to play and music in front of us. I had even circled the notes corresponding to the bells assigned to me. We had rehearsed each piece
IMPERFECT CHRISTMAS My dad and I would drive out on Marsh Road with our saw. Our job was to bring back a Christmas tree for our living room. We did this year after year. We never found a perfect tree. Now these were short-needle scrub pines, not the tree-farm grown spruces from up north. Ours
BARBRA AND I WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, have a Merry Christmas. We are sitting here waiting for the scones to come out of the oven.
THEY SERVE BECAUSE THEY CARE I noticed this t-shirt on someone at the gym this week. She allowed me to take the picture. It says, “Public serves because Publix cares.” Publix is the largest employer in the state of Florida. They are a grocery store chain with stores all over the state. Personally, I have
WHITE CHRISTMAS PLAY DEMONSTRATES THE RESULTS OF BEING SUPPORTIVE Last night my wife and I and a few friends joined a packed Athens Theater here in DeLand for a powerful production of Irving Berlin’s musical, “White Christmas”. It reminded me of the importance of people supporting one another. The Columbia Inn in Vermont, owned by
FELIZ NAVIDAD We were sitting together in this home on a small street in a village in Central Cuba about this time of year. One of the local church members had just finished a Bible study. We had prayed together. All of this was in two languages, with an interpreter. It was the fourth day