Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

Dec 26, 2006

Our Christmas, Channukah, Kwanzaa, New Years, holidays Contest 

Today’s Announcements

Great Boxing Day for our British and Canadian subscribers and Happy Kwanzaa for our African American subscribers as well.

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Please note that Storytime Tapestry is a free newsletter to members and there will never be a cost for the newsletter.  Donations are purely voluntary and no member should ever feel guilty for not making a donation at this time.

Today’s Contest Stories

~**~**~

Christmas 2002

Dear Mom,

I am more alone this year than I have ever been.  This Christmas

will be so lonely.  I can hear bombs exploding in the distance and

sporadic gunfire not that far off.  I miss my babies and my husband. 

I can not write and tell you where I am except Afghanistan.  Please

continue to write.

Love your Daughter,

Errin

USAF

Dear Errin,

I hope you receive this package in time for Christmas.  I can not

imagine how you are feeling.  We both are mothers, so we have a

common link.  Here is what you have in the package.  A small package

of hot chocolate mix.  Mix that on Christmas Day a little before 10pm

your time.  A candle,,,yes a candle.  Light the candle at exactly 10pm.

At the same moment your mother will be lighting a candle back home

and so we will be connected on Christmas.  You have some other small

treats but most important is my love for my daughter as God loved His

Son, I love my Daughter on Christmas and every day.

Love Mom,

Written by BJ Cassady for Diana Cassady

BJ.Cassady@af-group.com

~**~**~

ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

valuespeak@msn.com

THE STILL, SMALL VOICE OF CHRISTMAS

Joe Walker

            There are a bunch of new stores in the new shopping development just a few blocks away from our house, and my teenage daughter Beth and I have been anxious to check them out.

            I mean, if you're going to go broke at Christmas, you might as well do it at a brand new, state-of-the-art merchandising Mecca – am I right?  The way I see it, most of my money is going to end up here anyway.  It might as well get comfortable with the place.

            So Beth and I were cruising through the area, perusing the various stores, sampling some of the fast food cuisine, trying on some “way cool” boots when all of a sudden she stopped, her whole face alive with youthful exuberance and excitement.

            “Do you hear that?” she asked.  “It sounds like Christmas!”

            I stopped to listen.  There was plenty to hear, all right.  Shoppers shopping.  Cash registers registering.  The department store Santa ho-ho-ho-ing.  Little children crying at the department store Santa’s ho-ho-ho-ing.  A mechanical moose singing “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” – over and over and over again.

            “I don't hear Christmas,” I told Beth.  “I just hear a lot of noise and confusion.”

            “I know!” Beth replied, her smile even broader and more jubilant.  “Noise!  Confusion!  Christmas!”

            I remember that feeling.  When I was little it was as if Christmas turned me into one of those Fizzies soft drink tablets, and I bubbled and effervesced all season long.  I shouted my Christmas wish list to the department store Santa – just in case he was hard of hearing.  I sang Christmas carols at the top of my voice.  I ran screaming into the night at the sight of the first Christmas fruitcake.  I bellowed my line – “Fear not!” – during the church Christmas pageant so loud that the infant portraying the baby Jesus woke up and started crying.  I bounced off the walls at home and at school from Thanksgiving to . . . you know . . The Big Night.  By the time Christmas Eve finally arrived I was usually so worked up I couldn’t sleep.  And if I couldn’t sleep, nobody slept.

            Sure, my early Christmases were noisy and confusing.  But only because I was.

            These days, however, I prefer my Christmases calmer.  I still enjoy the sounds of the season, but mostly the quiet, gentle sounds.  Snow falling.  Yule logs crackling in the fireplace.  Nat King Cole singing “The Christmas Song.”  A child’s voice reading the Bible Christmas story: “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed . . .”

            This change in aural preference is partly due to the fact that I am officially old and simply can’t tolerate the noise and confusion any more.  But it’s also due to the fact that I’ve learned a few things through the years.  And one of the things I’ve learned is that the sound of Christmas isn’t big or bold or brassy, no matter what you may hear at the department store.  The sound of Christmas, it turns out, is still and small.

It’s the sound of peace.

It’s the sound of hope.

It’s the sound of love.

            Listen for it tonight.  After everyone else has gone to bed, turn off all the lights in the house except the Christmas tree lights.  Turn off the TV.  Turn off the stereo.  Set aside the pressures and stresses of the season.  Just sit in the stillness and listen.

            There – do you hear that?

            It sounds like Christmas!

~**~**~

Christmas 1914

Bill Walker

missourisage@yahoo.com

Christmas 1914,1915,1916,1917, take your pick, and years later also. All were rotten for many.  That is the kids, and I would think for the grown ups, trying to make a Christmas for their children.

I have heard this story from my mother, and her brothers and sisters. In those days, you either had it or you did with out. There was no bell ringers, there was no Marines setting up boxes for people to put toys in for the children with out. The kids that was on the down and out low end of town,  learned how to be a right good fibber in school.  Those got some right nice toys for Christmas, the trouble is don't ask to see the said toys. And the Christmas Dinner,  boy that was a dinner.  Lets see of the seven kids in the Sonner family.  You got told 7 different bills of fare for dinner, no two close to the same.

If one told you they had a pot of dried beans with some fat back bacon, a chunk of corn bread, and a glass of milk.  That would have been the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Toys, and gifts, that would have been the same doll for the girls as last year, with a new rag for a dress.  Apple or an orange, and a few pieces of hard candy.  Times was tough at the Sonner house.  You see their father died in the early spring of 1914.  He had taken a loan on the place of a couple hundred dollars to do something with. The bank as soon as he died  closed on the loan. Old man Bennett got the land of 160 acres.. a nice barn, a grist mill, and house for a couple hundred dollars.  It was not nice to say anything about Bennett to mother, she had no use for any one with that name.  We would go down that way on our trips.  There would be a big sign, Bennett farms.  I would hear that from mother,, another farm that old crook got for nothing. 

In those days, people stood on their own two feet.  There was no one you could turn to if things got tough at your house. Even a woman with 7 kids, and no means of making a way in this life. Other then take in washings, clean house, and farm the kids out as they got old enough to slave labor at the local cafe.  The boys learned how to work in the kitchen, and do the dirt work, for a dime a day.   The girls learned how to wait tables and be cussed out by the locals. One who happened to be the man of the cloth, with a cross hanging from his neck.  Oh the hotel that was with the cafe,  was a sleep over for the railroaders..  Some of those was looking for a little something on the side,, would make remarks to these poor girls. Or kick down a door to get to one in the middle of the night. Yes that happened,  Mr. White ran for dear life when mother woke up and screamed.  He was about ready to attack the other girl in the room.  Mr.White,, lets see, his daughter married my dads brother.  Best I remember mother might have been about 16.  You see she had this job, and was left there when the rest moved to Springfield.  Well next day or so her Uncle Frank packed her up on the train and sent her there also.

Poor Uncle Frank.  If there is a man that could relate to the poor man of the Bible, Lazarus, Uncle Frank might be close.  He worked at any thing to make a living, had no schooling.  You needed some odd ball something done, he would give it a try for a dime, a quarter, yard work, what ever.  I guess I am the last of the family that knows his resting place down there in the sticks on a little back road. I know every time I am that way, I stop, and say "Hi Uncle Frank.  I see the flowers that my dad planted here bloomed this year for you.."    Just a poor man.  You know God loves us poor people, must, he made a good supply.

For you young people. Grist mill, was a place farmers took their grain to be ground.  Col. Sonner CSA. {Confederate States of America}   was quite a man, know how to do many different things.  The only trouble was he figured on not being called home right away. After all the blasted Yankees never got him.

Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write

http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5

~**~**~

Christmas - Dealing With Loss

Michael T. Smith

            Trees are placed in stands, lights are hung, and decorations are put in place.

Stockings are hung, carols are sung, and smiles are on most faces. Christmas is here.

However, there are many who have nothing to smile about. They sit in their homes alone

or with their children. They’re missing an ornament this year. There is a missing spouse.

            My wife, Ginny, and I have experienced the pain. We know what those special

occasions mean. If you’ve lost a spouse, there many dates on your calendar that are going

to hurt. Ginny and I still see them coming: the day we met them, our wedding

anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, and many more. They are markers in our journey

through life. They’re like asteroids drifting through space on a crash course with our

emotions. We try to hide from them, but there is no hiding. It’s coming! It’s going to hit!

Close your eyes and brace ourselves, but most times it’s just a shooting star. It burns out

before it hits. There’s a twinge, like a needle in the arm, and it’s over. The fear of its

arrival was worse than the actual hit.

            There are days on the calendar that are not marked. Those are the ones we have to

watch out for. We have no idea what they will bring. We look for the marked days and

ignore the unmarked ones. We get careless. Those unmarked days can strike without

warning.

            One day I was moving from one location in our office to another. I was packing

my stuff in a box. On a top shelf I felt something. Dust drifted in the air as I lifted it.

It was a card from my first wife. She gave it to me for Valentines the year before she

died.

            “Happy Valentines! I love you!”

            It was signed, “Georgia.”

            I left work early that day. I was useless. An asteroid got through and nailed me.

            Grief sneaks in when you least expect it. It may not be a card. It could be a note

tucked in a book, an old letter, a photo, or a scent of the cologne or perfume they used

to wear. They trigger memories. We relive our life with them in our minds and remember

the day they left. The pain returns again.

            This is what we experience, but what about the kids? This is their first loss and

it’s a big one. It’s like a slap. It’s unexpected, surprising, confusing, and very hurtful.

A spanking would be more welcome to them. How do the parents do it? How do they

make a child happy? They just lost a spouse. Where do they find the strength, when they

are struggling to get through it themselves?

            As adults,  we have experienced it before. It may not have been as painful as

losing our spouse, but during our life’s travels, we have probably felt a touch of grief

when we lost a grandfather, an uncle, or other relative. It prepared us a little for the loss of a spouse.

            These little kids have never experienced a loss close to this magnitude. Their

young lives changed. They’re scared. They want their parent back. The idea of death

is something they cannot understand. They think mom or dad has gone on a trip and hope

they’ll return soon. The surviving parent has to put on a strong face and support them.

            At Christmas, we host a party for the local members of our widow and widower’s

group. This party is especially for those who have young children. It is those children

who tear at my heart. They have lost a mommy or a daddy. Their Christmas’ are changed

forever.
            At our Christmas party, I dressed as Santa and handed little gifts to the children. I

was afraid one of them would ask Santa, “Can you bring my Mommy/Daddy back?”

            What would I say?

            The answer I prepared and, thankfully, never had to use, “God needs angels for

special duties. When he needs more angels, he looks down on earth and selects people to

help him. Your Mommy/Daddy must have been very special, because he called them up

to be an angel. You should be very proud he chose your mommy/daddy.

            “The best thing is, because they’re angels, they have the power to look down and

protect you all the time. They are always with you. You can’t see them, but if you close

your eyes and pray to them, you will feel them, and maybe even hear them whispering in

your ear.”

            I hope I never have to use that story, but if I do, I pray it works.

            God bless the little ones.

Michael T. Smith

mtsmith@qwestonline.com

Readers Feedback

 Hello Bill –  Is "Merry Christmas!" Politically Incorrect?  I agree with you 100%. My religion is Sikh but this does not stop me from believing in Jesus. I celebrate Christmas with my family and watch all the Jesus films and programmes. Sikh religion is the newest but basic principals are the same such as: being good to other human beings; helping the less fortunate and keeping God in mind in your actions and thoughts.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Surinder Jandu

Dear, dear Carol,

Your distress and pain come through loud and clear in your column today. This is Christmas Eve. You shouldn't be so unhappy today of all days. Jesus' birthday is a day to celebrate the fact that Jesus came to save us all. He is someone you can turn to daily. Please remember to talk/pray to Him many times a day. You know He is the one who can answer your questions and help you with your dream. I will pray for you in church today knowing that He is already working in your life.

Have a wonderful day, Carol. After all, look at your name. Carol. A Christmas name. You always offer hope to your readers. Give yourself some.

Merry Christmas Carol!!! Your dreams can and will come true.

God's blessings to you,

Barb

Carol,

I will put you on my prayer list................please know that my husband
was a high school principal and I never finished college.............my mom
passed away when I was a Sophomore in college, I quit school to go home and
help with her, then I met Pat......my mom passed away, and I never had the
chance to go back to school.  I've always felt inferior and an embarrassment
to him, but now he is soooooooooooooooooooo happy we stuck it out.  God can
turn any sadness to gladness.

Put your faith in HIM...........................Merry Christmas..........and
God Bless!!!!

As has been said prior..........your newsletter is a blessing to many
people.  Remember that.

carol dee meeks

Carol Your column was so overwhelmingly sad.  You have brought so much joy to so many with your Storytime Tapestry, and you have accomplished a lot by writing two books! Kokopelli, is trying to bite the bow off a Christmas gift with his teeth!  Farlan's parents had sent gifts and we had just taken them out of the box and put them under the tree.  Emily turned the gift over after taking the photo,
but it didn't deter Kokopelli from investigating as to where the bow went -
LOL
We don't put ribbons or bows on our gifts to one another, because last year, Christine dangled a ribbon in front of Koke to play with, and he ate it!  We were all worried, but he was fine.
Blessings, Mary.
 

Contest Submissions that have been posted only, this means only the stories that have been published in Storytime Tapestry and not the articles that are still waiting in the queue.  The list gets bigger each day as more and more stories are added.

Please refer to the archives: http://archives.zinester.com/98907 if you want to reread an article before voting.

Name:                            Title:                              Date published

Ortiz-Lopes, Tannia           From Devine To Human                                     Dec 17 (see special treat)

Blaine, Pamela                     The Very Best Gift Of All                 Dec 17

Shaw, Bob                             Buttermilk                                                           Dec 17

Aro                                         A Visit From Tanner Claus                              Dec 17

Joseph, Brian                       The Gift of Giving                                                Dec 18 (see special treat)

Walker, Bill                         Rainbow Ridge Special Report, Gizzy             Dec 18

Gold, Ron                              Christmas Kindnesses                                       Dec 18

Gold, Ron                              A Merry Jewish Christmas                              Dec 18

Haley, Ellie Braun               Mother                                                                   Dec 19(see special treat)

McCallum, Arnot                The Little Red Sock                                            Dec 19

Bryant, Sharon                    The Meaning                                                        Dec 19

Bryant, Sharon                    The Shoe Store                                                    Dec 19

Byrant, Sharon                    You Walk With Angels                                     Dec 19

Berry, Nell                           A Christmas Prayer                                           Dec 19

Foster, Leeuna                     Tis the Season to go Shopping                          Dec 20

Gifford, P.S.                          A Very Special Christmas                                Dec 20

Mazzella, Joe                       Through His Eyes                                               Dec 20

Meeks, Carol                       The Most Reverent Night                  Dec 20

Meeks, Carol                       A Baby Boy Was Born                                       Dec 20

Meeks, Carol                       Christmas Day                                                     Dec 20

Newman, Bruce                   The Glue of The Universe                  Dec 20(see special treat)

Meeks, Carol                       Oh Israel, Oh Israel                                           Dec 21

Meeks, Carol                       Even The Animals Know                    Dec 21

Meeks, Carol                       Christmas Blessings                                         Dec 21

Meyers, Dan                         Noel - The Dyslexic Christmas Angel            Dec 21(see special treat)

Cavalera, Robyn   Dear Santa                                                            Dec 21

Cavalera, Robyn   Happy Birthday Jesus                                        Dec 21

Bryant, Sharon                    The Sweater                                                         Dec 21

Foster, Leeuna                     The Gifts of The Giver                                        Dec 22(see special treat)

Deming, Barbara A Special Christmas Ride                 Dec 22

Roney, Barbara                    Christmas Nostalgia                                          Dec 22

Roney, Barbara                    Baby Jesus                                                           Dec 22

Walker, Bill                         That Night                                                            Dec 22

Allin, Bill                              Christmas: Most of it Doesn’t Matter             Dec 22(see beyond the Mirror)

Meeks, Carol                       Year 1995 for me                                                Dec 23

Walker, Bill                         No Room                                                                Dec 23

Berry, Nell                           The Birth of A King                                            Dec 23

Berry, Nell                           Seasons Change                                                  Dec 23

Berry, Nell                           Did Mary Really Know                                       Dec 23

Westerfer, Clara O’ Christmas Tree                                             Dec 23

Roach, Carol                        I Should be Happy but I am not          Dec 24(see Carol’s Corner)

Holbrook, Mariane              Little Alma’s Christmas Present                    Dec 24(see Special Treat)

Walker, Bill                         The Broken Runner On St. Nick’s Sled        Dec 24

Walker, Bill                         Blue Christmas                                                   Dec 24

Walker, Joe                         What Would Santa Do?                                     Dec 24

Berry, Nell                           You Think You Got a Problem                          Dec 24

Berry, Nell                           The Light of Christmas                                     Dec 24

Dowd, Hartson                      Christmas Eve                                                      Dec 24(see fascinating facts)

Smith, Michael                    Little Bell                                                             Dec 25

Roach, Carol                        Hannah’s Special Christmas                            Dec 25(see Carol’s Corner)

Fox, David                              I’m Triply Blessed                                              Dec 25

Deming, Barbara Christmas Memories                                         Dec 25

Bryant, Sharon                    Don’t Tell Anyone You Know Me     Dec 25

Walker, Bill                         Christmas, 1914                                                 Dec 26

Cassady, B.J.                        Christmas, 2002                                                 Dec 26

Walker, Joe                         The Still Small Voice of Christmas                Dec 26

Smith, Michael                    Christmas, Dealing with Loss                          Dec 26

Young, Ina Townsend          Goodbye Home                                                      Dec 26