And say hello to my holiday kitty, Tweedy. This is Tweedy's 16th Christmas. Isn't she pretty!This year, my family is changing some of our Christmas traditions. This year is also the first Christmas since my mother died. Some of the changes are because she's no longer directing Christmas dinner, not that I don't wish she were!
For instance, we aren't going to get out the fine crystal glasses for Christmas this year. Almost every year one of them is chipped or broken. We decided the remaining glasses will be divided among the children and grandchildren. Mine is displayed in my china cabinet.
Each time I go by the cabinet and see that glass, I can see my mother's beautiful hands holding it up and saying. "Look how the Christmas lights shine through the crystal."
To me, that's much more meaningful than using it to drink iced tea.
Other changes are coincident with the current economy. We're not drawing names among the adults this year, for the first time in over 25 years. This was a tradition that may have worked back in our salad days, when it seemed to make sense as a way to save money by not giving gifts to every single person. But over the years it morphed and changed, and got more commercial, until we were essentially saying "Here's the catalog, here's the page and here's the item number. Order it and wrap it for me." ICK!!! How un-Christmas-like can you get?
This year we will buy gifts for the little ones, and have fun watching them. Then eat until we can't move! As my brother said, "Your presence is my present."
Whether we're enjoying long-cherished traditions, changing them, or making new ones, I think the important thing to remember is that this time of year is about love and family and peace.My Christmas present to me this year is a December book from Harlequin Intrigue. High School Reunion goes on shelves on December 9, 2008. It's not a Christmas story, but it's definitely a story of hope, love, family, change, and since it's an Intrigue, even peace--eventually! You can find out more about it at my website
I love the cover. It looks like a fantasy or a dream to me, with her sparkling white dress and the 'disco ball' and all the balloons. The scene is right out of the book--my hero and heroine dancing at the high school reunion where they reconnect after ten years.
But I did not request the black and white balloons, and I've spent some time puzzling over what the art department may have had in mind when they used hundreds of them. No--the high school's colors weren't mentioned, so that's not it. The only thing I can imagine is that the black is supposed to be sinister and the white is supposed to represent innocence.
If any of you want to speculate on why black and white balloons at a high school reunion, please respond. I'd love to hear your theory.
Whether you're cooking, eating, shopping, visiting, or snuggling up with a good book... please be good to yourself this holiday season.
Happy holidays to you all!
Mallory Kane
Edgy, emotional,evocative romantic suspense
Watch for the Black Hills Brotherhood in 2009
