December 21, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Christmas is almost here, and I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait. I love Christmas. So many fun things happening, not to mention not having to go to school for almost two weeks! Since I had some time on my hand and I love Christmas, I asked …
“Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one is a life diminished.” ~Dean Koontz I’ve never gotten a dog for Christmas. Got one for my birthday once. The many others all showed up in their own good time either when I needed a dog or they needed a home. If you’ve stopped by here before, you probably …
A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer. ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca The stories some of you sent me of special Christmas memories has been a gift to me. Some of the stories made me smile. Some brought a tear. But the thing that connects many of the stories …
“All those cliches, those things you hear about having a baby and motherhood—all of them are true. And all of them are the most beautiful things you will ever experience.” —Penelope Cruz On Christmas after the birth of my first grandchild twenty plus years ago, I had her father set her down on the floor in front of the Christmas tree …
Have you been shopping to find the perfect gifts for your loved ones? Sometimes that perfect gift is illusive and sometimes even when you think you’ve found the very thing that will most please someone, the gift doesn’t live up to expectations. That’s when we try to believe it’s the thought that counts. But sometimes we wonder what they were …
Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing. How many times have you sung “Joy to the World” at Christmas and thought how wonderfully it matched the feeling of the season of …
The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature. ~Abbe Prevost I sent out a newsletter last week. If you didn’t get it and would like to read my news, let me know and I’ll send one out to you. In the newsletter, I invited readers to share a Christmas story. I mentioned it could be about a special …
“School times end but the memories last forever.” – Unknown I got this message from Nancy about my book, Along a Storied Trail. “Your best book yet!! Keep them coming. I went to a country school in WI in the 1940’s. All 8 grades; walked or rode bike to school. Small stove to heat the one room. One teacher …
“The love of a family is life’s greatest blessing.” – Eve Burrows I asked you in last Sunday’s post to share something for which you were thankful as a way to enter a drawing to win a choice of one my autographed books. I wasn’t surprised that nearly all of you mentioned family as a number one blessing. I have …
“Help me to continue writing through those black moments of discouragement when I feel that nothing I write is good or worthwhile or will ever be read by anyone.” (an excerpt from A Writer’s Prayer by H. Joseph Chadwick) From the time I got hold of my first notebook and pen, I wanted to be a writer. All those lines …