For the Love of Christmas

Health Communications, Inc.

HCI Books, the Life Issues Publisher
Deerfield Beach, Florida

www.hcibooks.com

Contents

Introduction

Making Spirits Bright: Spreading Good Will and Good Cheer

The Lineup
Nancy Bechtolt

It's a Wrap
Peggy Frezon

Finding Santa Claus
Elisa Korentayer

A Song for Santa
Linda O'Connell

Christmas in July
Todd Outcalt

Up Front
Terri Elders

Owed to Joy
Ted Thompson

Of Evergreens and Fake Firs: The Trees We've Known and Loved

All in a Row
Anne Culbreath Watkins

Tinsel Time
Joanne Hirase-Stacey

Visions of Tree Trimming Dance in Our Heads
Marybeth Hicks

Silent Night
Carla Zwahlen

The Too-Tall Tree
Peggy Frezon

Out on a Limb
Andrea Langworthy

Christmas Outside the Box: Offbeat and Untraditional Celebrations

Oy, Come All Ye Faithful
Dorri Olds

Goodwill to Men
Sonja Herbert

Christmas in Germany: The Naked Truth
Lori Hein

Christmas Blues
Kathe Campbell

The Tree That Ryma Built
Ryma Shohami

Glad Tidings of Great Joy: Heartfelt and Holy Moments

Drawing Names
Nancy Edwards Johnson

Unto You a Child Is Born
Helen Colella

The Red Bike
J. Vincent Dugas

Drawn to the Warmth
Carol McAdoo Rehme

Yuletide in the Tropics
Connie Alexander Huddleston

Bah, Humbug! When Christmas Seems More Blue Than White

The Butterfly Tree
Jeanne Hill

The Ghosts of Christmas Past
Joseph Hesch

Radio Flyer
Todd Outcalt

Christmas on the Street
Pat Mendoza

Holidaze
Diane Perrone

Wonderful Life
Caroline Grant

Talking Turkey: Holiday Food and Other Fiascos

Eating at Two
Robert W. Howe

The Right Ingredients
Robyn Kurth
Golumpki (Pigs in a Blanket) Recipe

Meatball Madness
Candace Simar

The Proof Is in the Pudding
Donna Rushneck
Mom's Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe

The Pied Pepper
Jaye Lewis

Yuletide Traditions: Cherished Customs and Memories

Log Cabin Christmas
John Winsor

Tea for You
Jean Richert as told to Carol McAdoo Rehme

Holiday Blockbuster
Debbi Wise

What a Card
Andrea Langworthy

Cumbered Christmas
Wanda Quist

The Best Time of the Year
Christopher Garry

Recipes

Mint-Infused Leg of Lamb

Gingered Brussels Sprouts Hash with Golden Raisins

Spicy Blackened Shrimp with Cranberry-Orange Salsa

Mixed Greens Salad

Goat Cheese and Pistachio Nut Crostini

Tabbouleh with Mint and Cranberries

Christmas Cran-Apple Martini

Roast Turkey with Cranberry Orange Glaze

A Simple But Sinful Stuffing

Santa's Spicy Molasses Cookies

Chocolate Fudge

North Pole Peppermint Pie

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Caramel Drizzle

The Writers

About the Author

Copyright Credits

Introduction

I
've seen Christmas from all angles:
As a child growing up in Wisconsin, I counted the days until we could wake up on a likely snow-filled Christmas morning and enjoy our special family breakfast before bursting into the living room to look at the beautifully decorated tree and the presents beneath it. As a wife and mom of two, I won—and lost—my share of “too-tall-tree debates” with my husband. Then as a widowed mom, with no money for rent, let alone presents, I had to find creative ways to make the holidays memorable.

Over the years, I've learned that if you mix a little practicality with some creativity and a little Yuletide spirit, you can create a magical holiday season—and the joyful memories and traditions that go with it.

Throughout this book, you'll read true stories from others about sweet and tender holiday moments, holiday menus gone awry or the turkey that got away, stories of the Christmas blues made brighter by an act of kindness, or the moment someone was reminded of the
true
meaning of the season.

It is my hope that you and your family have a magical holiday—and carry the Christmas spirit with you all the year through.

Making Spirits Bright:
Spreading Good Will and Good Cheer

The Lineup

By Nancy Bechtolt

C
hristmas Eve day.
One-half shopping day left and this was it. Husband Dick and I, son Rick, and his family descended on the city mall with a mixture of excitement and panic, precipitated by the knowledge that visions of sugarplums were due to start dancing in a matter of hours.

Expeditiously finishing my shopping first, I found an empty chair bordering the main walkway through the mall and settled down for an innocent orgy of people watching. One familiar motto caught my eye on a passing sweatshirt:
Practice senseless beauty and random acts of kindness.
I wondered if the wearer or in fact anyone in the mall that day had time for such luxuries. Sounded unlikely.

My attention soon drifted across the procession of shoppers straight into the living room of a Nordic cottage where Santa Claus and an ­itinerant ­lapful of radiant believers sat enthroned in an ample maple rocking chair. Behind him a painted fire roared silently in its huge fireplace. Beside him stood a real Christmas tree trimmed with ropes of fake cranberries and popcorn and genuine candy canes.

I was close enough to notice a sheen of perspiration form along the line of Santa's white beard and to hear all of his Christmas questions and most of their answers. A long queue of eager lap replacements and resigned parents wound down the mallway. The line was at least an hour long. That was going to challenge a few Christmas spirits.

Two adjacent families about halfway through the line caught my eye. The first was a mother and a group of little boys about two, four, and five years old. The smallest was corralled in a stroller. That was the good news. The other two were free agents, poking, scuffling, and pushing in the red-blooded way little boys have that amuses onlookers and drives mothers to consider substance abuse.

The children were neatly but modestly dressed in matching red sweatshirts that seemed to have suffered a few indignities from prior owners. But their faces were shiny, their eyes as blue as they were mischievous, and their hair fine, blond, and unruly. Directly behind them stood another family—mother, father, and little girls about five and seven. The girls wore blue velvet dresses, trimmed in lace at the hem and featuring a line of white organdy rosebud buttons. Their long white stockings and black patent Mary Janes had never seen Christmas before. Their long black hair, caught in flowing ponytails, reached almost to their waists. When they squirmed, their parents took turns walking with them to relieve the tedium of the wait.

The line inched forward until the little boys were next. But something was wrong. The boys didn't dash for Santa's lap. Instead, the mother and Santa's linebacker, who guarded access to Santa and a cash register with equal fervor, were in animated conversation.

The mother couldn't believe she had to pay for a set of pictures just so her children could talk to Santa. Wasn't Santa for all children at Christmas? Wasn't every child equal in his sight—even those who didn't have $11.94 for the smallest set of photos? Couldn't they just sit in his lap for a minute, even if she promised not to take a picture with the camera she had brought along?

No, no, no, the linebacker snarled. This was a photo shop in the express business of selling photos. They were not about to overwork Santa for freeloaders. It was too bad she had waited an hour, but the linebacker could take no responsibility for that.

As their voices rose, I realized I was not the only eavesdropper. The father of the blue velvet daughters returned from one of his mini-strolls and, realizing the nature of the controversy, reached into his pocket. He deposited twelve dollars on the cash register.

“This is from one of Santa's plainclothesmen,” he grinned. “Now let's get those boys on Santa's lap where they belong.”

The mother relaxed. The little boys leaped. Across the aisle, I smiled as tears of pride collected in my eyes.

Santa's plainclothesman was my son.