2020 ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas in the hardest of years where the world was distanced and had shed many tears. 

Everyone who could be home was already there, where cinnamon and peppermint scents filled the air. 

While most people dreamed in the dead of the night, others were working to keep spirits bright. 

An older woman stood alone on wobbly feet. It seemed she was tired and needed something to eat. 

I could barely see her face behind the mask and goggles she wore. They were so tightly on, her face must have been sore. 

But she kept on working despite any pain she was in. She had to help fight for those who needed to win. 

Her white shoes squeaked softly as she did her rounds. An angel of sorts in a PPE gown. 

She walked room to room in the quiet of night, caring for patients in dimmed hospital light. 

She took care of each person and did all

that she could, hoping her help would do them some good. 

Some patients were improving. Others were getting worse. This was the reality of the COVID curse. 

After a long night of work, when the sun started to rise, she said “goodbye” and “merry Christmas”, as the new staff walked by. 

She removed all of her gear and scrubbed as tears filled her eyes. When she finished scrubbing she gave in and started to cry. 

As she walked to her car with red eyes and another mask on her face, I wondered if she knew what a difference she made. 

She drove past some houses of holiday joy where children were playing with fancy new toys. 

Stopped at a stop sign she spotted a girl riding by, on a shiny new bike. A man rode behind her smiling with delight. 

She watched for a moment and felt a smile on her face and noticed the man looking her way. 

He caught her eye and waved at her. “Merry Christmas,” he said. She recognized him from a hospital bed. 

She’d held his hand when he needed it and prayed by his bedside. A few months ago he was the reason she’d cried.

She had thought he was done for but here he was, still alive, not even knowing she had helped him survive. 

She wished them Merry Christmas and drove slowly away. She was thankful for the miracle God had shown her that day. 

When she arrived home to her house, she showered, ate, and turned off the light. “Merry Christmas” she whispered,” and to all a good night. 

For Christina Grimmie and her fans

I'm not a poet by any stretch of the imagination but I felt compelled to jot this down. May God bless all of the families who have experienced unimaginable tragedy over this last week.

Heaven gained an angel last Friday night. 

When a gunman stole her beautiful life. 

Why did he do it? We may never know. 

Only thing that's for sure, she was too young to go. 

A role model who transcended her hype. 

A friend to her fans when he ended her life.

It's easy to cry but harder to grieve for someone we only knew through the screen. But she truly changed lives and made her mark in the world. 

She was a one-of-a-kind incredible girl.

She lived life to the fullest until her last day. Singing her heart out along the way. Indescribable passion, insurmountable faith

And a exuberant smile on her beautiful face. 

Along with this girl who inspired such light, In that terrible scene on that horrible night, A hero emerged to save multiple lives. 

Through unthinkable pain, he did what was right. 

What this killer forgot or perhaps did not know, is her light was much more than a one-candle show. She drew everyone in like a moth to a flame and lit the world on fire, with us cheering her name. 

Fear is an enemy we must learn to ignore. Because if we don't we will lose so much more. So take that candle she lit, set it down on the floor and follow your dreams and like her, you will soar. 

-Kristen Nannini

RIP Christina. You were loved and lost far too soon. 

Scrolling, Scrolling, Scrolling

Our time on this earth is so limited. We should spend it doing things we love and with people we care about. We should spend time out in nature, exploring our surroundings, enjoying the earth that God has given us. We should spend time feeding and clothing the homeless, or helping our veterans, or giving voices to babies, children, or animals that don't have one. We each have a purpose in this life, but I'm starting to see that our purposes are becoming completely diluted by social media.

Today, I celebrated 8 years of Facebook friendship with my husband. A giant post came up to remind me and to share that fact with the world. I did. I shared it...but for what?

Social media is a great vehicle to promote your business, start a friendship or stay connected with old friends, and stay in touch, even when you're far away. It's an awesome benefit to our society, but more and more, it's getting out of control. When we're bored, we start scrolling through pictures and videos, statuses, and articles.  

We scroll through statuses often containing the highlights of everyone's lives. We virtually scroll through new babies, birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, memes, videos, photos with a finger. I heard a teen complaining the other day that she'd posted the funniest joke she'd ever come up with and that no one had liked her post while her friend explained that you had to post things when everyone was out of school so it wouldn't get bumped to the bottom of the news feed. She told her friend it was all about timing...When did we become a society that only felt our ideas/opinions were valued because someone clicked a "like" button? 

Then we have those friends that assume that once they've put something on Facebook that the whole world better pay attention. I know a person who lost a friend because she hadn't been up-to-date enough to know how her friend was doing. I asked a close family member once if she'd remembered my birthday, and she said, "Oh yes. I wished you happy birthday on Facebook, which is why I didn't call." So now, not only are we hinging our self-esteem on the number of "likes" we get, we're also expected to monitor everyone else's pages as well as our own to determine what the status of each of our friends is at any given time or place? 

Relationships have been destroyed because something posted on social media was taken personally or something was taken out of context. Social media also has the potential to become a breeding ground for cheating. I was Googling some facts for this article and somehow ended up coming across an article that offers 25 helpful apps for cheating on your girlfriend. Seriously? We have all this amazing technology avaialable at our fingertips and we're using it to create apps that "help" us cheat on our significant others? 

If we continue to spend our time scrolling aimlessly, trying to post things for "likes" or "follows". or use social media as a way to dilute our own realities, I wonder what that means for our purpose. We were meant for so much more than this mindlessness.

Social media is an amazing thing...It's a great vehicle for communication and for business-related purposes. It can enhance communications in ways that were previously impossible. However. it should not take the place of living your very best life. If you feel your life or marriage is compromised by social media, seriously consider what void social media is filling for you and cut it off, at least for a while and see how you feel. If you can't be without it, consider that social media addiction is a real thing and get help.

Please, spend your precious time wisely. If you find yourself aimlessly scrolling, turn it off and do something else!

Best wishes!!

Writing is Magic

I love reading books that make me feel something. The moment I knew I was destined to be a writer came when someone told me they got goosebumps reading the fiction I had written. Knowing I had helped someone feel something was the most amazing thing in the world and I was hooked! The truth is, writers are magicians and good writers know how to pull on your heartstrings and evoke laughter, fear, sadness, and a myriad of other emptions.

Still not convinced? Has a fiction book ever taken you to another place entirely? Has a book ever made you feel something? Have you ever felt personally invested in a story and read on through the night because you just had to finish what you were reading?

If so, consider this. The English language is comprised of 26 letters, forming words, strung together by writers. Those words, if strung together by a good writer, can take you to places you've never seen, introduce you to people you'll never meet and make you feel something you've never felt. If that's not magic, I don't know what is.

A word of caution...Becoming a writer is not for the average person. It takes dilligence, patience, determination and, often, some degree of insanity. In addition, many addicts also tend to be writers. Should you decide to persue writing, you will end up in the middle of some of the most interesting relationships with fellow writers that you can imagine. Some will try to sell you their book, others will want to trade books for reviews, which, to me, seems like cheating, some will be pretentious and snooty. (You'll see 'em. They'll be the ones who pull manuscripts from the sky in days and claim it took a weekend from start to finish. They are often the ones who are the first to correct your grammar and the last to offer any constuctive critism). Some will just be all-around good people, which is greaat, but you've got to weed 'em out to ensure they're not really just fishing for reviews or sales.

Being a writer/magician :) takes a lot of guts. You've got to be willing to put yourself out there no matter what happens. You will face rejection. You will want to give up 8454534592 times. You will be let down. Reviewers will hate what you write. But it's that one reader that tells you your book made them feel something that makes it all worth it. It's that one reader that stayed up all night to finish, or the one who has an opinion on every character and is passionate about each one and their motives. Helping people feel something is the best and only thing that makes the hours spent toiling away worth it. :)

If you've got the words inside, write them. Write them from your heart and put in your emotion. This is the key to the magic. If you feel nothing writing the words, then your readers will, in turn, feel nothing. But, add in your emotion and write from the heart, and the magic will follow. :)

Best wishes!