This week: Celebrating... Edited by: Fyn-elf  
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If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble. ~~Bob Hope
It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love. ~~Moliere
The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness. It illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than in things. ~~Thomas S. Monson
Before we took down the tree each year, Dad would always say a prayer that we would be together the next Christmas. I cling to that prayer, which serves as a reminder that it's important to be grateful in the present for the people you love because, well, you never know. ~~Catherine Hicks
I put up my Christmas tree entirely too early. I'm one of those people. ~~Rachel Boston
Me too! :)
It's fun when you start a movie, because it's kind of like you get to go Christmas shopping... you get to make your wish list and you start thinking about what each character needs.~~ Spike Jonze
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The 1st Christmas after my eldest daughter was born, she was only a month and a half old. I kept telling myself that she was too little to remember anything at all and so the fact that this promised to be the worst Christmas EVER would not be a big deal. My husband was gone, and I was thousands of miles away from home. I was broke thanks to an Army glitch. The package from my folks had been delayed. It didn't matter that being in Alaska, I was close to the North Pole, Santa would not be coming down my chimney this year.
Christmas Eve afternoon, I got the last tree from the Boy Scouts tree lot for free because it was small, and scraggly and made Charlie Brown's tree look magnificent. A downstairs neighbor gave me a spare string of lights. I made coffee filter snowflake ornaments. It really was a pitiful tree, but I'd done the best I could do. And repeated my mantra that she was too little to remember it anyway. I was a big girl and I'd survive.
Flopped on the couch feeding her, her eyes caught the flashing lights and she smiled her first smile. Six weeks old and she gave me a spectacular gift. It made me cry. Part happy tears, part sad and lonely tears. Then, someone knocked on my door. Ten at night on Christmas Eve. I seriously couldn't imagine who it could be. The very last thing I expected was to see Santa Clause standing outside my door!!!
Ho-ho-ho-ing, he came in with a big sack on his back and started placing wrapped presents under my pitiful little tree. He pulled out two stockings packed to the hilt. Then continued to empty his pack until presents surrounded the tree.
"Who? What? How?"
"It's Christmas. You, of all people, know better than to doubt Christmas Magic. Merry Christmas." And out the door he scampered.
I looked out my front window and there he went, down the snowy street in a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Seriously!
I called my mom, (It was six hours earlier in Illinois) wondering if they were behind this, but they were as surprised as I was. Happy, but very surprised. I fell asleep that Christmas Eve on the couch only now, I was smiling in the lights of the tree.
The next morning, my daughter and I opened presents. There were diapers and formula, adorable outfits and blankets, a snowsuit and baby toys (including a teddy bear) for her. A warm, fuzzy throw, a handknit scarf, hat and mittens., and a bunch of gift cards for me. In the toe of my stocking was a short note wishing me a very Merry Christmas and asking me, when circumstances allowed, to pay the joy forward. Signed, Santa. With a ps saying "Thank you for always believing in me and in Christmas."
Worst Christmas ever? Nope. One of the most special.
That lonely Christmas was in 1977. Many, many times, I've played elf since in both big ways and small. And not just at Christmas but year-round. Many years were tight, but I always found something I could do. As my children grew, I always managed to pull Christmas together for them, but more, made sure they learned the special joy of giving to others. The Christmas Spirit thrived in our home. The kids enjoyed finding ways to give to others. One year we split and stacked wood because the elderly couple down the road just couldn't manage to split the wood they had.. Even my youngest carried split wood to add to the stack. Another year, we sent tiny trees, lights, ornaments and stuffed stocking to a hundred military stationed around the world. It wasn't even Halloween, but we mailed them out to be sure they'd have them in time. The kids loved the letters that started arriving from all points on the globe. One year we committed to driving a lady to the store and doctor's appointments for the entire year. We cleaned her house, delivered meals and did little things just to make her smile. My, now adult, kids still find ways to give back to others because it is ingrained in them. They can't not. It's become tradition.
For me, this season is all about doing for others. Making people smile. Giving their hearts a lift. Spreading joy how and when I can. It's not about money or how much we might (or might not!) have, but seeing eyes light up, knowing they had, even if just for a few moments, a surrounding of joy. A neighbor told us a year or so ago that he looked forward to seeing what color our tree would be when he left for work at 0-dark-thirty in the morning. Every night, before bed, we change it so that it is different that next morning. He says it makes him smile. That it is a nice way to start his day! That he looks forward to it. That tiny thing makes me smile every night as we change it.
Here on WDC it is easy to play elf.
Adopt a newbie.
Find stuff no one has reviewed and review it.
Encourage a struggling writer.
Raid someone's port.
Be a friend.
Scatter joy.
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One of my favorite songs...shared by my drummer hubby and I
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Monty  writes: So many things I have heard, you put them well. My hat has a saying All gave some, Some gave all. Those that died are still Veterans and in this country the Red White and Blue waves over their last resting place.
brom21  says: I have a friend who fought in Vietnam. He has PTSD. No non-military individual can fathom the experience and emotional shock of war. I have never been a soldier, and I can only imagine the pain it brings. God bless you!
Legendary❤️Mask  comments: Thank you and your family for the service that y'all have given in the name of Freedom. I have found through Ancestry that my family, too, have served going back to the 1500s.
Wow- that is awesome!
Jim Hall adds: Fyn,
Thank you for this newsletter. You touched my heart with your words and deeds. You are right many of us do not speak of the worst we have seen, usually, because it is either too painful or would be too disturbing to the listener.
Telling fun or funny stories is much more enjoyable anyway. As a former navy man, I know sailors enjoy telling stories...keep in mind they may not be accurate but the storyteller will never lie to you!
Thanks, again,
HM1 James Hall, USN, Ret.
Thank You
DestinyAwaitsDarling  writes: First of all, I just want to say, thank you so much for you, and your family’s service. *Salute* I wanted to let you know how much your newsletter about Veteran’s Day moved me. While I am not a Veteran, nor is my mother or father, my very deeply-loved grandfather is; us grandkids call him Grandy. He served in the Air Force when my mom was growing up, and retired before I was born. For as long as I can remember, every time I have gone to see him, he has told me countless tales about his adventures and shenanigans, as well as all about the beautiful, admirable souls that had accompanied him on those journeys, both on and off base. I know I’m only 25, which is relatively young, but the rest of my family and I visit him so frequently that the fact that my Grandy has never needed to repeat a single story out of depletion, not even once, is astounding to me. He just has that many. That spark in his eye, as he tells me these stories are what I live for
- it gives me hope, and passion, and a wild desire to experience more of this life that has been so valiantly fought for, and WON by Veterans like him. I suppose that I just wanted to say that it brings my heart such joy to know that there are others who value the stories of Veterans, as I do; it gives me joy because I know that the Veteran telling those stories to you is touched by your intentionality to truly see and hear them, in the exact way that they have always deserved from everyone, but unfortunately, never experienced because of the unwarranted stigma; the fear in society of “violent Veterans with PTSD.” I hope that this newsletter encourages so many others to go find a Veteran and actually listen to them, and their story- whatever it may be, because it is not only right, but it is personally fulfilling in ways you would never expect.
This made my day!
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For Authors: December 07, 2022 Issue [#11695]
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