On Thanksgiving day my sister brought me a file folder full of old letters and cards that were among my parents' things she has stored in her home. What a treasure trove this turned out to be! My mother was great about saving old letters, cards, the grandchildren's drawings, and anything that might have special meaning in the future. Actually at one time, when we had moved away from home, I asked my mother to save my letters and cards for the possibility that someday I might want to write a book about our adventures, and those letters could be so helpful! And so she did. I don't know if that book will ever get written as I had hoped, but this blog is a kind of a book and probably the closest I will ever get to actually publishing it. Without going into too much laborious detail from all the letters, I will just share some pictures of them with you...
So now you can understand why these were so special...Who could throw those away? I sure can't...
And the letters tell all about our living in Ohio while hubby was attending seminary. It was quite an adventure for our little family...first snow! First time so far away from home for Thanksgiving and Christmas with our three little kids. Everyday was something new.
I have copied a previous blog post, written many years ago, here for you today. This story tells about our first Christmas in that very house where we were living where all of the above letters/pictures, etc. were written and sent home to my parents. I thought you might enjoy reading it again if you haven't seen it before.
Original Post written in 2013:
This is an excerpt from my writings about our early years in the ministry...when we had moved all the way to Ohio from Florida so my husband could attend seminary...and we were a very long way from home for Christmas....and a bit homesick (at least I was...don't think the rest of the family even noticed!)
“I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas…”
Psalm 145: 15-16 “The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
Our first Christmas so far away from home was on its way. Although we were happy in our home and our work, and John was doing well in Seminary, we missed being near our family for the holidays. We had managed to get through Thanksgiving by being with other families in our church. But Christmas was different…everyone had their own extended families to be with and we really didn't want to intrude on that. We had met another Pastor and family at a conference who also were far away from their own relatives. So we invited them to come have Christmas dinner with us. They accepted the invitation very graciously.
Christmas morning arrived cold and gray. The forecast did not call for snow, but possibly just rain and dreariness! I was a bit disappointed because I had really been looking forward to having a white Christmas. But we put on the Christmas music, opened our gifts, and I started getting ready for our company to arrive before noon for dinner. Around 11:00 a.m. the phone rang, and it was our guests calling to tell us that their children had awakened with the flu, and they would not be able to travel to our home after all! Talk about disappointed! Of course I understood their situation and certainly did not want them to travel to our house when they were sick, but now what were we going to do? I just couldn’t imagine having Christmas Dinner alone! I was having myself quite a pity party as I started slamming pots and pans around in the kitchen and putting back the good china and pretty dishes I had planned to use to serve our guests.
John and the boys were perfectly happy, perhaps even relieved! 
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John and the boys in their jammies, enjoying Christmas
morning...showing off their new headgear and toy guns.
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They really did not want to have to clean up the living room and put away their new toys to make room for strangers! I realized that I was the only one who wanted to have company anyway!
As the hot tears stole down my cheeks, I stood staring out the bay window in our dining room, feeling very sorry for myself. Suddenly I noticed something different outside our window…something white and light and fluffy descending out of the sky! It was snowing! The snow came down haltingly at first, and then in a great flurry of excitement it started accumulating on the windowsill and the ground! It was beautiful and clean and bright, and my whole countenance lit up as I began to sing and dance and clap my hands in pure joy at this delightful turn of events! We were having a white Christmas after all! I danced back into the kitchen and started getting the good china and silverware back out of the cupboard, and setting the table with the prettiest things I could find! I realized that my own precious family was the most special and deserved to have the best Christmas ever! I started singing Christmas Carols and soon the whole family joined in. As we gathered around the table that Christmas Day we celebrated with the true Spirit of Christmas in our hearts!
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Christmas Dinner...boys still in jammies, but
we have the candles lit, and the good china set out! |
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John and boys waiting to start eating!
"Could we dispense with the pictures already?"
John seems to be saying... |
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And after dinner was over...there I am, out enjoying the beautiful snow!
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“Joy to the World! The Lord is come; Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing!”
So...all's well that ends well...we had a perfect
Christmas after all...and it was a WHITE CHRISTMAS to boot!
And I learned a valuable lesson...spending time with my own dear family and making happy memories together...regardless of where we are or whatever disappointments may come our way...those are the moments that define and bind us with cords of love that are not easily broken when the real difficult times come along. I'm glad I learned that early on.
Back to the present: And so thus ends another chapter in the lives of our little family. I hope you enjoyed this little walk down memory lane with me to explore more of my "Wednesday Treasures".
Hug your own family a little tighter this Christmas, and don't allow anything to keep you from making memories as a family, one way or another...even if it has to be via "Zoom", take the time to make the call...Be present in any way possible. Oh...and keep writing those letters and sending those cards...Christmas cards, Birthday Cards, Anniversary Cards...someday the written notes and letters and drawings will be the only real tangible memory left that we actually existed. Don't rely on technology/social media or even photographs that aren't printed but stored on flash drives or in your computer to be around when you are gone. Technology changes...what we store on flash drives today won't fit into what they have in the future. The written word, printed photos, cards...are all that will remain to tell your story. Trust me...I am trying to research my family genealogy. If it weren't for written records, Census Records, diaries, journals, photographs...there would be no way to tell the story of the past. So go ahead...write that Christmas letter and put it in a pretty card! Your life matters!!
Thank you Pamela. I will be putting up a message on my blog about exchanging cards...I wish you could see my smile. I hope you have a beautiful day friend.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you, as a historian, would agree to the importance of written communications between families and friends. And I still send out Christmas cards with a letter every year. No one has ever complained about getting another Christmas letter from me. It's the only time of the year that I write to many of these folks who aren't on Facebook and so they have no clue what we've been doing. I am always disappointed when I get just a card with no letter from people that I don't ever hear from otherwise throughout the year. And I do save cards too. I try to weed them out each year and save only the most meaningful ones, but it's hard to let them go. Cards are rather expensive "gifts"! I hope you have a great day too.
DeleteAnother really beautiful post Pamela. I always love hearing your stories and seeing all the old photos. Your blog really is written like a good book!
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you Martha! That is so sweet! You have blessed me with that thought. That is exactly what I wanted it to be. It has kind of become my journal, diary, and autobiography all in one. I enjoy reading it even if no one else ever does! LOL. Have a blessed week!
DeleteLove this! My grandmother was a saver, too. She never threw away a single card or letter she received. Not ever. We went through so many of them when we emptied her house. Because of that I have back every letter I wrote her during my life, a box of vintage Christmas cards, and a few letters from people long gone...including a letter from one of my grandmother's brothers to their mother talking about the assassination of JFK written only a day or two after the fact. I first found out about the circumstances of my birth when I found old letters tucked into a desk. My mom, though not as thorough a saver, still saves. She has been cleaning out in recent years and has gifted me with letters from a friend who died of a brain tumor when we were 25 along with other high school memories and a big box of things from our wedding...including a stack of about 20 newspapers with the write up. I don't have the room to be such a saver. I've chosen a few very special items and gotten rid of the rest. Hang on to our families and our memories for sure!
ReplyDeleteWow! I bet some of those letters/things of your grandmother's are really special. I'm glad you took the time to go through them and not just throw everything away. So often that is what happens when someone passes away...everything just gets dumped and we have no clue what we might have missed. Interesting about you finding out about your birth circumstances that way. How old were you? I'm glad that you've since been able to meet your Dad and hopefully some things have been resolved. Wow. Thank you for understanding and appreciating this today. Merry Christmas!
DeleteHow you've touched my heart, Pam! I'm especially taken by your boys' carefully printed letters. And struck, too, in the 'olden' photographs how much Scott resembles his dad. Handsome!
ReplyDeleteI've spent so many years, ashamed of my handwriting; opting instead to key my message. Not sure that my son and grands would care, but maybe its time I make an effort.
Oh, what you said about writing a book? For years I've followed a well-known author's personal blog. Once, I commented, asking if she'd ever considered an autobiography. "No", she responded. And continued, "I suppose this blog is, in a way, my autobiography."
Thank you, Myra. Funny how you noticed how much Scott looks like his dad. I never realized it until recently looking at old photos of my hubby when he was young. It really is amazing. But all three of our boys look more like their daddy than me. I'm just the one who had all the labor bringing them into this world...and then they couldn't even look a bit like me! LOL. Re: handwriting...even typed letters are better than none! My handwriting has gotten terrible since I started using a computer all the time. I am so embarrassed when I write a letter or card and make mistakes and have to either start over or cross through and it looks so messy. My brain goes faster than my fingers when writing by hand, and when typing it is just the opposite. LOL. Anyway, the important thing is to communicate, and do it often. I love the quote from the author. Very interesting. Might you be able to tell me who? The way I look at it, this is free, and I don't have dozens of books sitting in a box in a closet that I can't sell, and the people who want to read it will read it and those who don't care wouldn't read it if I gave them a free copy. So there you go. I just hope this blogger never goes down and takes all this with it. I try to save the important ones to a flash drive, but I am way behind in that now. It's a lot of work. Thank you for reading and commenting. YOu are a blessing.
DeleteAw, thanks! I feel the same way (about you).
DeleteSure, the author -- one of my favorites -- is J.A. Jance. Here's the link to her blog: https://jajance.com/Blog/
If it had worked out as planned, I'm sure you would have had an amazing time with no thoughts of "strangers." Still, you coped well with the situation at hand and rescued the day for your family. I know that the snow helped. Isn't God good?
ReplyDelete🎄❄️🎄
Oh, I am sure we would have had a great time. They had young children too, and I am sure their kids probably didn't want to leave their new toys either. I truly felt bad that they were sick, but all in all it probably worked out for the best. The snow wouldn't have been good for them to drive over and back home again later. It was kind of messy. God knew best. And yes, He IS good, all the time, God is good!
DeleteYes, it would have worked out in a perfect world. Alas, we don't live in one of those. 🥴
DeleteNo, we don't, but we make do with what we have to work with and are very thankful!
DeleteI agree with you 100% on those written notes. We are a lot alike in that I have tons of them. I wouldn't take anything for them. I have some of the sweetest cards in the world from my maternal grandma. They are some of my most precious treasures. Now, snow - we don't agree on. I am good with seeing it in a picture only. I think December is the least favorite weather month in Florida. Often cold, dreary fog and short days. No thank you to that either. I like January much better because even the cold is usually in sunny days. Nothing like family though!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, I am over the "dreaming of a white Christmas" stage in life. We ended up living up north for quite a few years before returning back home to Florida to stay, and I had enough White Christmases and snow storms to keep me from ever wanting to move back up there, unless it was just for the summer and fall! We are quite thankful for the wonderful winters we have here in Florida most of the time, although today and yesterday were quite chilly!! yes, I much prefer the sunny cool days of Jan. and Feb. (most of the time). And right, nothing like family, unless it is good friends who are just like family! We've been blessed with some good ones through the years who blessed us by being our family away from home. And we've been also blessed to provide family for people here who needed a family while away from home. We are all a part of God's big family anyway!! Hope you are all feeling better by now? Take care and God bless.
DeleteThanks for sharing these special memories . AS I read about your white christmas, I was reminded that even today, what matters most is that my little family can celebrate Christ's birthday together.
ReplyDeleteYes, even small family gatherings are fine and a blessing to be sure to count in our list of blessings! There are those who would gladly want to share a part of any family at all who are left totally alone. So I am always extra aware of that because of our own experiences when away from home. That's why this pandemic has been so hard on people who really are isolated. I do hope it can be over soon!
DeleteOh, what a treasure trove you have in those drawings, cards and letters, Pam! I'm so happy that your mother hung onto those so that you can enjoy sweet memories. And I loved the Christmas day story - it will only be the three of us this year due to the Covid, but I'm already determined to be thankful for all our blessings. And yes, I'll be doing Face Time with the grands that day. Can't wait to hear how they enjoy Christmas.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Oh I know those little girls will be thrilled to talk to you face time and they can show you what they got for Christmas, and you can see and hear for yourself how happy they are. Facetime is a wonderful invention, as long as we aren't caught in a state of "undress". LOL> Yes, we must all count our blessings this year, whether big or small, we are blessed to be here at all. Have a wonderful December/Advent/Christmas!
DeleteOh, Pamela - what a sweet post sharing your precious memories! And bless your mom for saving that stuff! How awesome! After my parents past, I got in cleaning mode and threw away my Big Box - where mom and I kept the special stuff. I could kick myself now that I have a grand daughter. I really was trying to organize and let go - but I do wish I hadn't done it.
ReplyDeleteLove your pics and stories, and Bible verses. Thank you. Have a blessed Advent Season.
Thank you, Michele! I know it is hard to know what to keep and what to let go of anymore. Space becomes a premium, and sometimes we just have to let go. But after working on genealogy and finding descendants of ancestors who never knew anything about their ancestors at all, it is kind of sad. I've discovered more about their own families through Ancestry than they ever dreamed of. (I'm researching my grandmother's birth parents as she was adopted and never knew her birth parents, but through DNA and Ancestry.com I've figured out who they were, but their own family who grew up knowing they were their family knew nothing about them because no one saved anything...bummer!) So anyway, organization has its place, but I'm learning that when in doubt...don't throw it out! LOL. Thank you for visiting and becoming a new friend! I responded to your other questions on the previous post. Have a blessed Advent season as well! Thank you.
DeleteThis is such a beautiful stroll down memory lane! Thank you for sharing this with us, Pam. So very special!! xo
ReplyDeleteThank you, Terri. I am so glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed looking through all those old letters and re-living the moments that I wrote about. Letter writing has become a lost art, I'm afraid. We do everything on social media now, which is great, but it won't last forever like a letter!
DeleteSuch priceless cards and letters! What a blessing that she kept them all. When my husband and I moved our young family away from my parents and sisters, my mom and I wrote letters and actually made cassette tapes for one another. I would have the girls talk to her about what they were doing, I would talk into the tape recorder and tell her how much I missed her, ask her about her day, etc. Then I would mail her the tape. A couple of weeks later we'd get a cassette in the mail. It certainly helped to ease the pain of being so far away.
ReplyDeleteWhat a special way to stay in communication...did you save any of those tapes? They would be priceless now! My mother and I would usually call each other on Saturday mornings and have a nice visit. I truly looked forward to that call every week and still wish I could pick up the phone and call my mother on Saturday mornings (or any time), but she's been in heaven since 2006, and I don't think they have telephones in heaven. I've often wished that they did. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Have a blessed and wonderful week. Thank you for sharing that...I love that story.
DeleteThat is a wonderful treasure to have, such precious memories. The pictures of you and John with the boys are so sweet, yep, John does look like he's saying, "let's get this show on the road!" You have such a sweet heart, always love my visits with you.
ReplyDeleteThese letters, cards and drawings are priceless. I know Rose was thrilled to see Benton’s letters from childhood.
ReplyDelete