More Than Sew So

My dear friend in Canada sent this to me today. I just had to share it with you on this Christmas Eve. Joy to the world and to all those, like Mike, who care so very much and display, with so much love, the true meaning of Christmas!

A Simple White Envelope

It’s just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our
Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has
peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas — oh, not the
true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it — the
overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a
tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma –
the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual
shirts, sweaters, ties, and so forth. I reached for something special just
for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin,
who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school
he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match
against a team sponsored by an inner-city church.

These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed
to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast
to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new
wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the
other team was wrestling without head gear, a kind of light helmet
designed to protect a wrestler’s ears. It was a luxury the ragtag
team obviously could not afford.

Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And,
as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his
tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t
acknowledge defeat. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I
wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of
potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of
them.” Mike loved kids — all kids — and he knew them, having
coached little league football, baseball, and lacrosse. Read more »

Filed under: amazing, charity, christmas, family, friends, hope, inspiration, joy, life, living, love, prayers, support, team | 14 Comments »

Oh! I LOVE Christmas when little children are involved. We went to our 4-year-old grandson’s Christmas Program last night. It was delightful. I captured a couple of pictures (not good ones, but I tried). Grandson was the reindeer. He was doing very well until the little girl next to him caught his eye. All the children did very well with each of the songs. Grandson’s 20 month old brother was in back with Daddy (my son) and began singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” louder than any of the cast members! I have no idea what the expression on Daddy’s face was. Everyone was turning around to watch the little one trying to steal the show.  After the program, there was a party in the church lounge where huge trays of delicious homemade cookies were served. The kids had a great time and the families enjoyed it too. Later in the evening, after the boys got home, they got a rousing X-Box video game contest going. The little one has no idea what he’s doing, but it’s a split-screen so each of them can play to their heart’s content.

They went to the mall today and got their pictures taken with Santa Claus. When asked, the older one started to reel off all the things he wanted for Christmas, then stopped and said “Didn’t you read my letter? It’s all in there!”. The younger one didn’t have much to say except, “MOMMY!”. He’s not sure about sitting on the lap of a fat man wearing a red suit and a fake beard. But, he’s ready for Christmas!

I got all my cookies and candies made! HOORAY! Tomorrow I start on two cakes and 5 pies. We will have 14 here for Christmas Eve and they all will be enjoying Christmas Day in their own homes. Happy Holidays everyone!

Until next time!

Filed under: Santa Claus, christmas, cooking, events, family, grandchildren, joy, love, mall, pre-school | 8 Comments »

I am sharing cute pictures with you today. Still wrapping presents and baking. The two youngest grandchildren are here and (in my spare time…???) I’m playing with them. They thought these pictures were cute and so did I. That’s why we’re posting them for your enjoyment. Happy holidays from our house to yours.

AARRGH! I’ve been on hold for 45 minutes!

Ahhh…this is the life!

HEY! I am NOT a kitty! I am a FROG!

Read more »

Filed under: animals, cats, dogs, love | 12 Comments »

I want to take this time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to those who celebrate with their own traditions.

I am going to take a break until after the first of the year so that I can concentrate on the holidays and reflect on the “reason for the season” and what it means to me. There have been difficult times for us in the last few months and I think my attention needs to be directed elsewhere at this time.

I will post what I can, when I can and hope you all understand. I’m hoping to drop as many EC’s as I can and my daughter, bless her, said she would help me out in that department as well.

I hope the New Year finds you all well and delivers to you all that you’ve hoped for.

God Bless Us One and All!

I am including this amazing, precious, and heart-wrenching, picture-story of love in the animal world.

This series of photos is telling the suffering of a poor bird shocked with his partner’s fatal injury. Here his wife is injured and her condition is failing.

Read more »

Filed under: amazing, animals, birds, christmas, hope, inspiration, love, wild animals | 14 Comments »