I got an early Christmas gift last week:  Redbook Magazine named The Sportscaster’s Daughter one of the best books of 2016!  I am both humbled and in awe. It seems surreal to be listed in the same list that includes such greats as Alice Hoffman and Colin Whitehead.

I also have been really happy to see some of my articles in a number of other magazines that I have read for decades:

• Writer’s Digest “Writing My Memoir Was Healing but Almost Killed Me, Again” And note the picture – those are my real Writer’s Digest books dating back to 1992!
• Working Mother “Trying to be A Better Mother than My Father”
• First for Women “The Day My Father Told Me Never To Come Home Again”
• WeHeartWriting “My Split Personality: The Technical Writer and the Memoiristt”

Beyond the articles, it has been a pure joy to hear from readers via email, Facebook, and in person at a few book clubs. I was moved to hear a woman quote from my book on the meaning of unconditional love.

And yet, this week is always a hard week for me. Tomorrow marks seven years since my dad passed away. It is harder to greet Christmas Eve with the same joy I once did. I make a conscious effort to stay focused on my present joy and to lock past traumas tightly in a box.  I focus on the cookies we bake, the carols we sing, the random acts of kindness all around. There is my husband’s sheer joy of homemade mince pies and the cats’ mischief in wrapping themselves in garland. And I repeat the words of Henry van Dyke: “If you truly believe that love is stronger than hate, then you can keep your Christmas.”

By the way, I only discovered that quote in the church bulletin from December 24, 2009. Coincidence?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Cindi