Thanksgiving has always been a difficult holiday for me. From the time I was a very little girl and only wanted to eat a turkey with feathers . . . to when I became an adult and knew, with absolute conviction, that cooking would never be one of my better skills . . . to becoming an aware adult, that we only think about feeding the poor and homeless at holidays when we can feel magnanimous and spiritual, and seldom …
Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother’s Day, must be spinning in her grave and hating Hallmark for all it stands for. Commercialism. Anna worked tirelessly, by writing letters to newspapers, businessmen, religious leaders, and politicians, to make Mother’s Day a national holiday. She hoped that a son or daughter would honor their mother for all the sacrifices she had made and she used the singular mother’s day rather than the plural. She never intended the day to include all mothers, …
I wonder if a large part of the Christmas spirit isn’t the anticipation of the gifts they will be buying and receiving. For some, it’s the anticipation of giving gifts to loved ones and to people they will never meet, the recipients of charity. For others, it’s the anticipation of receiving something they have been wanting. If this feeling of anticipation is responsible for lifting the mood of people at Christmas, why couldn’t we use that same strategy for the …
My earliest recollection of all my relatives getting together at a restaurant for Thanksgiving Day was a total disaster. How they ever tolerated me after that, remains a mystery, even to this day. I remember everything about that day, even what I was wearing. To this day, I can’t remember what I, or anyone else, wore for any other occasion but that day is engraved in my mind. My mother dressed me in a forest green velvet outfit with jodhpurs …
I won’t say that this is THE most embarrassing moment I’ve ever had, because goodness knows I’ve had my share of a lot worse, but it ranks up there with one of my embarrassing moments. Whenever I write anything, be it a blog, an article, a book, etc., I always write it as though I will be the only one who will ever read it. At the time I’m writing it, it doesn’t occur to me that anyone else will …