the beauty of an ordinary life
Today is the second day of Christmas. No, I am not going to lead with this calendar/timeline/reference for the remainder of the month. In fact, today is that last reference you'll have to the Christmas holiday. Today, 26 December, is often a day that -- both in my personal experience and from what I very … Continue reading Two turtle doves.
Today is the first day of Christmas. There are 12 days in this season. This season extends beyond the end of December. You are not late; you are right on time. And you are loved. The real people in your life you make you feel happy, smart, attractive, powerful, accepted, or brave -- the people … Continue reading On the first day, let yourself be loved.
(This piece was originally published by The Daily Memphian. Please support local journalism and consider subscribing.) Once upon a time, before the prevalence of cable television, WREG Channel 3 used to broadcast old movies in the afternoons and at night, after the 10 p.m. news. And long before there were jokes and memes about binge-watching … Continue reading My mother, Kris Kringle, and the spirit of Christmas
Were your holidays magical? The stuff of Disney and Hallmark movies, only more so? Ah, good on you! I'm tickled. As for us? Well, My sister and her crew gave me the best Christmas present I could ever want and spent the holidays with us, here in our house, all of us together for the … Continue reading A few things: December 2019
A neighbor stoops to pet my dog (our dog, the littlest of our three), greeting him by name. It is a cool, but not chilly, late fall afternoon, children playing in their yards, lights beginning to turn on behind windows, streets laced with dog walkers out for a pre-dinner stroll. One of the children, a … Continue reading Many happy returns.
He thought his third wife was "the one," and for a while she was. But, to be fair, so were wives one and two, as would be four (and probably five; I wouldn't know, we lost touch). "The one" ultimately had nothing to do with the wives and everything to do with him. But wife … Continue reading Farewell, Bob the elf.
Because Christmas falls on a Wednesday this particular year, the boy wakes on Monday without any particular plans. On Sunday they had done their Sunday things – church and lunch at Nana’s house. On Tuesday they would do Christmas Eve things. Monday, the day in between, begins empty. It will be a long time, a … Continue reading Christmas, 1940.
This story will be less risqué than you might fear, or hope: I bought myself, sort of by accident, a purple lace bra for Christmas. We were out looking for stocking stuffers and standard Santa fare, my daughter and I, trying to get it all done in one single open-air-mall expedition because I quite hate … Continue reading Warning. (AKA “the year I accidentally bought a purple bra for Christmas”)
jenny's lark 