My life was determined by work and traditions for so long that I have continued even long after retiring. I have always rushed from one task or event to another from my birthday in mid November all the way through Christmas Day. This year was no different. I have my regular round of cherished activities to uphold and they make me very happy indeed. The days in between Christmas and New Years Day have generally been a quiet sojourn for me. Mike was a retail banker by trade and he had little time away from work at this time of year. He was lucky if he got off early on Christmas Eve and unless Christmas landed on a weekend he was right back at work the day after the big holiday. Of course I was an educator and I had a nice long winter break so I was able to wish him well as he scurried back to work and then roll back under the covers to steal a bit of extra rest.
I suppose that I should have felt a bit guilty that I had such a long vacation and Mike did not but somehow I always believed that Mike would see through my fake sympathy and know that I was far too happy about my own free time to worry about his lack of it. Besides, he was one of those people who never even came close to using his sick leave and vacation time. If he had worked for a business that paid for all of those accumulated hours at the time of retirement he would have had a nest egg worth at least two years or more of income. Instead he was quite dedicated to his work and understood that his customers, employees, and employers depended on his being in the trenches with them. Thus I was free to determine my own fate during the days leading up to the new year and I always chose the ways of a hibernating bear. Continue reading “My Winter Sabbatical”
God’s bounty is all around us. We sometimes think of it as being sustenance or material possessions but in reality the plenty that truly sustains us comes in the form of the people who pass through our lives. If we have lived well and been willing to open our hearts He blesses us with family and friends who make us better for having known them. Lizette Coronado is one of those young women who slowly but surely burrows into people’s hearts. 
I’ve seen many a Christmas, sixty eight of them in fact. I was barely a month old that first year but it still counts. My mother lovingly recorded a list of the gifts that Santa and friends brought to me. Unfortunately I don’t recall much of that first holiday so well. Over the years however I’ve had some wonderful times with truly remarkable people. There’s no Scrooge in my world even though my husband, Mike, likes to pretend that he’s a distant relative of old Ebenezer or Mr. Grinch. That’s just his impish nature coming out. He does like to tease and enjoy a good laugh. He get’s that from his father, but I digress.
Way back in 1956, when I was seven years old I received an invitation to a birthday party for the daughter of my father’s best friend. Her name was Shirley and she was a great deal older than I was. In fact she attended Hartman Junior High at the time. She was blonde, beautiful and always nice to me so she became a kind of goddess in my eyes. Shirley introduced me to rock and roll and showed me how to dance. When my family visited with hers she always took me to her room and entertained me as though I was an equal to her. Of course I adored her so when my mother told me that I was going to get to accompany Shirley and some of her school friends to a movie on her birthday I was over the moon with excitement. 
