A Special Christmas Card

It is unusual to receive "hard copy" cards anymore in the mail. Most everything is on line. But there is always one card that has arrived every year since I can remember. This one happened to be both a birthday and Christmas card combined, and had a picture of a pooch on it. This person knows me well! I've saved just about every one of these greetings and this will be no exception. There used to be two names on it, but now there is only one. Since we lost my Dad in June, my mom has soldiered on. Even though she is in her nineties and has an iPad, this envelope with the familiar but shakier handwriting means more than ever. So I'm thankful that she is still with us, and we are looking forward to seeing her very soon. Thanks Mom!

Maryland Food Bank and The Four Promises

We received a large envelope in the mail from our son's in-laws who happen to live in Maryland. Inside was a brochure for the Maryland Food Bank. I'm glad I looked deeper in to the envelope and found a Christmas card with a note from them that said a donation was made to the Food Bank as a result of a conversation we had several weeks back. I sent a few copies of my book "The Four Promises" to them and they wanted to pay for them. It's a story about our mutual grandson and how his father prepared the then seven year old for a six month deployment. Rather than send money we may have mentioned giving it to a charity of choice. And so it was. The best part was the note that they hope to stop in for tea sometime during the holidays. My husband makes a great cup of tea and it's always a treat the share a conversation over it - any time of the year. Obviously if we still lived in Milwaukee the likelihood of getting together would be remote. For some people that is fine. But we prefer being a little closer to family and friends - especially during the holidays.