Happy New Year

 I hope you each had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, and holiday season.  I can't wait to start on my next couple of posts.  I wish you all a very safe and Happy New Year.  See you in 2011.

I'm back from a great trip to California, both northern and southern.  We tramped through Disneyland in the flood of the decade.  It was a memory we will never forget.

The Best Christmas Gift

Twenty Minutes A Day

by 

Richard Peck

Read to your children

Twenty minutes a day;

You have the time,

And so do they.

Read while the laundry is in the machine;

Read while the dinner cooks;

Tuck a child in the crook of your arm

And reach for the library books.

Hide the remote,

Let the computer games cool,

For one day your will be off to school;

"Remedial"? "Gifted"? You have the choice;

Let them hear their first tales

In the sound of your voice.

Read in the morning;

Read over noon;

Read by the light of 

Goodnight Moon.

Turn the pages together,

Sitting close as you'll fit,

Till a small voice beside you says,

"Hey, don't quit."

Christmas With The Fitzgerald's

Thanks for hanging on with me.  The past three weeks have been fun/crazy in my life.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving in snow covered Idaho then returned to Washington to watch our son play the Rabbi in Fiddler On The Roof.  Now turning our energies to Christmas I was reminded of a sweet parental lesson from Papa and Mamma.

In The Great Brain Returns J.D. happens on a conversation between Papa and Mamma early in the morning after Christmas.  The boys had worked hard to buy their parents good gifts.  From a boys viewpoint the gifts were wonderful.  From a parents - not quite?  The lesson of love though is the best.  From page 68,

"I know the boys meant well," Papa said, "but I wouldn't wear that necktie to a dog fight.  And as for that hat they bought you, only a dance hall girl from one of the saloons would wear a hat like that."

"I know, dear," Mamma said.  "But you will wear the necktie and I'll wear the hat."

"But what will people say when they see us?"  Papa asked.

"I don't care what people say," Mamma said. "All I care about is not hurting the boys feelings.  They gave us the presents because they love us.  We'll show how much we love them by wearing the necktie and the hat."

"You are right of course," Papa said.  "All we can hope for is that I spill some printer's ink on the tie and you get caught in a rainstorm and ruin the hat."

After overhearing Papa and Mamma, J.D. tried to sneak up stairs.  When Mamma called up to him, he said he just needed to go to the bathroom.

On that note I wish you all a Merry Christmas.  And another time to make wonderful family memories.

 

 

 

 

Happy Hanukkah - Abie Glassman

Happy Hanukkah.  Today our Jewish friends begin their Festival of Lights.  Jewish people have a strong faith and honor.  To many of us outside they represent a people of remarkable resilience.  John Fitzgerald held Jewish men in high esteem also.  One of the tenderest of characters in The Great Brain Series was the peddler Abie Glasman.  Chapter 4 of The Great Brain is entitled Abie Glassman finds a home.  Its a chapter worth reading.  It reminds of the simple facts of the Golden Rule and the impact that following it can have in someones life.  By chapter 6, the remarkable Abie Glassman is laid to rest.  Again the Golden Rule comes to mind as the town reflects on their own actions toward Abie.  

I have not found an Abie Glassman match in my research but his characters story was vital to John. Abie Glassman can be found in both Papa Married a Mormon and The Great Brain.  Whatever his reasons the lesson of Abie Glassman can be good lessons for us.  

At this time I wish all of our Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah.  

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone- My family and I are in freezing cold Boise. Snow sledding is great.  Food yummy.  Games ok.  I NEED to do better.  The family time is best.  I began writing my memory did you?  It's still very much in rough draft form.  Just trying to write it helps me appreciate the skill of good authors.

Make it a good memory day!

Holiday Opportunity - Write Your Families Story -Updated

I received a wonderful comment from a new guest and I wanted to share it with all of you.  I hope it encourages you in my Holiday Opportunity Quest.

"In the 1950's my mother belonged to the People's Book Club and I just recently found the books she received in a box long packed. Just finishes PAPA MARRIED A MORMON and, being a librarian, decided I wanted to find out more about John D. Fitzgerald, little realizing that he wrote the GREAT BRAIN series... Found a link to this blog and just couldn't let the option to post a comment pass. I'm currently editing a book of my own grandfather's writings and know more and more each day how much family means! A. R. Huggins."


Thank you A.R. Huggins.  Every story deserves to be told.  If you like send me a note about the stories you've found.  It will give us all inspiration.

Holiday Opportunity - Write Your Families Story

Nearly three decades ago my grandmother suggested to me that I become a writer.  She and I had exchanged letters all our lives.  She had been my mentor in the art of family story telling.  I remember thinking, when she made the suggestion, "Me a writer?  What would I write about?"  As I looked over my life at that present time I saw nothing interesting.  My life wasn't bad or anything.  It was normal.  What would anyone be interested in reading about. Today I see a different world.  My world had no cell phones or computers, we could and did walk to school everyday. And letters were priceless.  This brief memory brings me to this post.

In the next few weeks most of us will be connecting with our past.  Whether we are joining with family or merely remembering family, we will each be in the perfect position to begin our stories.  Like me, you may not see yourself as a writer, but you are.  Anytime you reminisce about "when you were..." you're telling a story.

This year as you connect with the stories of your past, take a minute and write down the story or at least notes.  File it away.  You never know what may develop.  Remember John had the notes from his families reminiscence for over fifteen years before he began writing the story that became our beloved books.  You may just do the same.

But what if your not with family?  Grab out some photos, videos, even cell phone pictures, or the images in your mind.  Write them down, give them words, description...life.  Look in the treasure troves you hold and tell your story.  Only you lived when you did.  Someday someone will want to read about it.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving