St. Nicholas Day

Today, December 6, is St. Nicholas Day, a feast day honoring St. Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop of Myra (now part of Turkey). St. Nicholas was known for his charitable deeds, particularly toward children. For centuries, St. Nicholas Day was celebrated in many countries in Europe. It was a religious feast, […]

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My Lucky Four-Leaf Clover

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up this weekend. I’ve written before about the importance of St. Patrick’s Day in my family, because of my mother’s Irish heritage. This post isn’t specifically about St. Patrick’s Day, but it is about one Irish emblem—the shamrock (“shamrock” means “little clover”). Most people know […]

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Christmas Cards Through the Years

Smithsonian.com published an article on December 9, 2015, entitled “The History of the Christmas Card,” by John Hanc. According to the Smithsonian.com article, Christmas cards began in 1843 in London, when the very busy Henry Cole decided to send post cards instead of handwritten notes to his friends at the […]

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To Grandmother’s House We Go

In all the years we’ve been married, my husband and I have never spent Christmas at home. We’ve been responsible for a few Thanksgivings, but never a Christmas. This is primarily my daughter’s fault. She does not believe that I am capable of “doing” Christmas. Oh, my husband and I […]

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