From our house to yours...

Photo by Judt Getch copyrighted

Tis that time of year once again. Hardly seems possible, but here we are... in the midst of holiday shopping, decorating and cooking.  

I'm stealing a bit of writing time as well trying to edit my new novel, The Looking Glass Labyrinth.   I'm listening to Barbra Streisand's Christmas CD.  The song that really hits home is "I Remember" and at this time of year, I do.  

It takes me back to being young and at home... my parent's home, but it will still always be home.  I remember... caroling in the center of town, taking the train through canberry bogs that were decorated with Christmas lights, choosing the tree with my Dad, Christmas dinner in the dining room, candles in the windows, midnight Mass... I remember.  

Make time for youself, sit down with a hot cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate, somewhere away from the maddening crowd, and listen to the holiday music ... it will take you back and you will remember too.  Some are joyous memories, some are tearful, but they are all ours, to be remembered at this time of year.

Enjoy the holidays and I'll be back after New Year and we will talk again.  I'm hoping to submit this novel before Christmas, but who knows.

Till the New Year,

Judi

Successful Book Signing...

The book signing on December 2nd was such a blast.  So many wonderful people related delightful stories about why they were buying Fiona the Firefly - LOST!.  Many had new Fionas recently born into their families;  others had friends who loved fireflies; some even had friends who studied fireflies.  I learned that the fires in Gatlinbugh were destroying the forest in which the fireflies congregated in June each year.  How sad that would be... Fiona's family would have nowhere from which to start their trip north to Maine :-(  

I absolutely enjoyed meeting everyone who came to the Front Street Art Gallery in Scituate Harbor. It was the Harbor Stroll and the street was mobbed with holiday shoppers.  What a fun night.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped in and added to the night's festivities!!

A perfect evening...  As I sat looking out onto the harbor with the lighthouse in the background, the lights reflected on the window appeared to be Fiona's firefly family :-)

Remember to pick up your copy - Amazon has it!

Till,
Judi

Mother and daughter...

Lizbeth and Mama from Fiona - the Lighthouse Firefly (copyrighted 2015)

Today is December 1st.  My mother died ten years ago today.  When I hurt, I write, so here I am.  I remember my sister telling me that when her plane lifted up over the city after my mother's funeral, she cried because she was now an orphan.  And as strange as that sounds for an adult to say, it's true.  My father had died when we were very young.  And so, when my mother was gone, we were truly orphans.

I'm remembering my mother today.  She was not always an easy woman to get along with.  Maybe most mothers and daughters think that... I don't know.  Her mother died when she was only eight years old, so she didn't have a mother figure in her life.  Her father was from the "old country" and was strict with his five girls.  He was gone before I was born.  She and I had many disagreements as I grew up, but in the end, respected each other for who we were.  Our love was always there, sometimes camouflaged, sometimes worn on our sleeves.

My mother was a wonderful cook. Her lemon meringue pie was the best!!!  She made "blond brownies" that the entire family loved.  I had a cousin who was serving overseas and all he wanted was one of my mother's fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches.  When I lived at home, she was up early making breakfast for us all.  When dinner time came, we were all at the table, my Dad and my two sisters.  It was a wonderful time of talking and laughing and eating.  I was the middle child and acted like it.

Christmas was her favorite time of year.  The tree was up and lit.  We were able to decorate it all, but she put the finishing touches on it.  Santa was always generous - as generous as he could be with only my Dad working.  I remember one year when I was young, I wanted a train set... not a little dinky one, but a Lionel train.  She took me to see Santa and when I told him what I wanted, he did his best to convince me that what I really wanted was a doll.  I didn't and so stated.  That year, under the tree on Christmas morning, was my Lionel train that smoked.  Christmas dinner was always eaten formally in the dining room.  Candles glowed on the table and the turkey was browned and filled with her fabulous sausage stuffing.  Christmas afternoon was spent with us all sitting in the living room, watching Christmas shows on TV, with my father's father, my grandfather, snoozing in the chair. When we were older and all gone from the house, she would sit in front of the tree quietly remembering those wonderful Christmases when we were all there.

She made life wonderful for her husband and three girls.

It was almost fitting that she go at Christmas time.  Her funeral recessional was "Angels we have heard on high" allowing for tears and singing as she left the church for the last time,

I miss her and this is my way of keeping her alive in my heart and mind... as they used to say, "I remember Mama..." and I do.

Till,
Judi