Letters to My Grandchildren - a New Tradition

This year I decided start a new Christmas tradition by sending each of my grandchildren a Christmas card along with a letter detailing a spiritual experience I have had. I started the tradition with a retelling of my very first spiritual experience and the Christmas song,  Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful.

I included a copy of the song on the back of the letter, and my hope is that our grandchildren will keep these in a binder of some sort to have as part of their own family history.

Here is the 2019 letter:

December 18, 2019

Dear 

Oh, Come All Ye Faithful is my favorite Christmas song for a very special reason - I had my very first spiritual experience while listening to it when I was just nine years old. I was not yet a member of any church, but I knew of Christ and believed in Him.

It was December and I was about nine years old and sick, sick enough that Granny Slash had quarantined me to her bedroom away from my siblings so that they would not catch what I had. She and Apple Jack had a black and white TV in that room and I was getting to watch some extra TV since I was so sick.

I tuned into a Christmas special, one of the old variety shows where there was a lot of singing and dancing. The grand finale involved the entire cast singing Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful together. The curtains opened to an empty stage with a raised dais in the center. On it was a stable where Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus were seated. 

As the singers sang, approaching from all sides of the stage, they slowly gathered around the Baby and His parents. Soon the music swelled and everyone was packed closely around the family, gazing at Christ in adoration. 

As I listened to the cast sing this beautiful hymn, I heard the word, “come” over and over. That word pierced my heart. I literally felt a call, a physical pull, to come unto Christ and adore Him. (Looking back, I now realize that I was feeling the spirit.) 

Oh, how I yearned to be there with the cast, singing His praises and thanking Heavenly Father for the gift of His Son. I remember crying in my heart, “I’m coming! I’m coming! Wait for me!” but sadly, I didn’t know how to get any closer to Him. I did not know how to be part of the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:27.) 

Luckily for me, I found the gospel and was baptized when I was seventeen. At last I had found what I had so desperately wanted - I had become one of the faithful and was truly coming unto Christ!

Now, whenever I sing Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful, I recall that yearning desire to come unto Him, and am thrilled that I have found the way to do so. I have answered the call to come behold Him, to sing in exultation, to come and adore Him. 

I am joyful, I am triumphant, and I am one of His faithful. 

Much love,

A Poem for a Seeing Eye Guide Dog

A Tribute

By Kathy Nimmer

Once upon the break of day,

A guide dog asked to work and play.

For all his huge heart wished to do

Was live with joy and help me do that too.

Once upon a sunny noon,

I strolled with hope and hummed a tune.

For by my side he guided so well

I neither staggered, tripped, stumbled, nor fell.

Once upon the setting sun,

I marveled at all the things we had done.

For in the course of hours now passed,

We’d conquered a mighty list of tasks.

Once upon a midnight clear,

I sensed the presence of a guide dog near.

His strong back pressed against my knee,

His dreaming whiskers maybe twitching for me.

For tomorrow, when the bright sun rises once more,

He’ll guide me through school, restaurant, and store,

With confidence given him by those who

Raised him and trained him and ultimately knew,

That he was ready in harness to go

Anywhere and everywhere, for I surely know,

That on holidays or days that aren’t so bright,

This guide dog gives me vision without sight.

Once upon the work and the rest,

Once upon my worst and my best,

Once upon this poem’s end,

I’m grateful for my cherished friend.

An Early Christmas in Florida - Day 4

Our fourth day in Florida was a Sunday, and so we all went to Church together. My favorite hymn, Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful, was scheduled to be sung by the congregation in our Indiana ward that morning and I was sad to miss it. Imagine my surprise when I saw it on the program in Kyle's ward. I was so moved by that blessing that I cried throughout the song and could barely sing.

(In another blessing, the hymn was sung again in our ward the following Sunday and so I got to sing it yet again. Why it was scheduled to be sung two weeks in a row is a mystery, but I count it as a blessing.)

Afterwards, the kids helped me make a cherry pie for dinner.

 At the kids' request, we put an "I" on it instead of my usual leafy sprig.

Kyle grilled a delicious salmon and veggies outside (you can do that in December when you live in Florida!) while Craig and I helped in the kitchen with the other dishes.

After dinner and when the kids were in bed, Kyle pulled out the pocket watch I'd given him. He has always been a guy who likes to investigate and ask questions, and since I wasn't sure if this had been my grandfather's (Kyle's great grandfather, Earl Robert Honeywell) or his father's (Kyle's Great Great Grandfather, Frederick Robert Honeywell), we decided to do some research and see what we could discover.

The watch still worked, and when we popped off the back to get the serial number, it was truly a thing of beauty, even art. After finding the serial number and checking it against information online, we determined that the watch was from 1921 or 1922. Early Honeywell would have been twenty or twenty one at that time, so we surmised that it had been his watch, possibly a gift for college graduation.

The next morning we left at 6:00 AM. Craig asked if we could make the drive in one day instead of two as he really wanted to get home to Pepper, and I agreed. We arrived home at 10:30 Monday night, stopping by Lisa's to pick our Peppermint up. (She'd had fun, but she was so glad to see us!)

An Early Christmas in Florida - Day 3

After the Christmas Parade, we had a brief break and then Addie and Whitney were scheduled to perform at a retirement home.

Whitney chose to sit in the audience with Boompa and me.

Ready to make their entrance! Kyle on the left, Addie in front, Corrine's face barely visible.

A better photo of Corinne - she's second from the left.

The girls were so graceful and did a beautiful job dancing.

A proud dad. (He's not asleep; that's a blink.)

The second dance was lovely, too.

That's Corinne smack dab in front of the Christmas tree.

Corinne and Addie.

The entire company came out for a bow after the performance. Addie is in the black warmups with Corinne in white next to her.

Braden and Kyle wore their matching Illini shirts!

We went home after the ballet performance and sent Kyle and Ashley off on a date.

We had to feed the kids and so we made them pizza.

Addie helped Boompa prepare and serve it. (She helped with a lot of things during our visit!)

Boompa's still got it! He helped a fussy Melissa get to sleep.

One more day to visit and then we had to return home.

An Early Christmas in Florida - Day 3, The St. Augustine Christmas Parade

This Midwestern girl could not help but think of Irving Berlin's famous song, White Christmas, as I sat outside under the palm trees and watched the St. Augustine Christmas parade go by.

The sun is shining, the grass is green
The orange and palm trees sway
There's never been such a day
In Beverly Hills, L.A
But it's December the twenty-fourth
And I am longing to be up North
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!

I've never attended a Christmas parade in Indiana where it wasn't chilly and maybe with an early snow on the ground! Sitting in a lawn chair, with no jacket on, no hot chocolate to keep me warm, and surrounded by palm trees was not something I had ever experienced before. 

Kyle, me, Corinne, Whitney, Braden, Addie, Ashley, and Melissa. And palm trees. Lots of them.

Corinne and Addie were marching in the parade along with their dance studio. They are carrying the banner and with their arms up waving at me.

The parade was held in the historic district of St. Augustine and right by the Castillo de San Marcos. You can see it in the background.

When we arrived, we'd driven past the staging grounds for the parade and I had seen a lot of horse trailers, so I was hoping that I would see a lot of equine entries. The first one came very early in the parade.

This pony pulling the cart was the cutest equine entry, at least in my opinion.

Some of the entries did not have any banners to identify them. This was one of them.

Virgil's Trojan horse from The Aenid was represented. Never thought I'd see the Trojan horse in a Christmas parade!

 Despite the numerous trailers on the staging grounds, there were not that many horses in the parade.

 Most did not carry any identification about their group or why they were participating in the parade.

Surprisingly, many of the horses were not shod. 

 I laughed when I saw this photo. The horse's tail looks like it is full of static electricity but that's actually a small palm tree juxtaposed behind it.

 My favorite horse in the parade - that coloring is gorgeous!

 See the Belgian? 

 I was glad to see a helmet on the young girl - I was surprised that most riders did not wear one.  

 There was only one horse in the parade that was acting up (far left.)

 Someone on foot was walking beside it and helped keep it moving forward when it became upset.

Another horse drawn wagon, the last equine entry in the parade. 

After an hour and a half, the parade ended and we wandered the streets of the historic district for a while.

I snapped a couple of photos of some horse-themed businesses as we walked around. (Want ice cream? Head to St. Augustine. Never have I seen so many ice cream shops clustered together!)

The Lafayette Christmas Parade was held the same day, and the weather conditions were much different from those in Florida. While I missed seeing my own community's parade, still it was nice to be warm and not have to fight snow and ice to view it!

An Early Christmas in Florida - Day 2

Friday we took the kids shopping so that they could buy gifts for their parents. I think that that was my favorite activity of the entire trip! We headed to Target and gave the kids a budget of $20 each to purchase gifts for both parents.

When we got home, we had a massive wrapping  session.

 Addie wrapping candy jars for her parents while Braden looks on.

I'd found some unicorn wrapping paper at Target and it proved to be a big hit with the girls.

 We went through quite a bit of tape and wrapping paper,

 but that happens when you are learning how to wrap gifts.

I also wrapped all the gifts that the aunts and uncles had sent to Kyle's kids, so soon the tree had quite a few packages underneath it. (That is Braden hiding from the camera.)

 After dinner, the kids got to open their gifts from us.

 Fireball Island is always a big hit in our family!

 The kids got Melissa some new clothes and a bib. 

Whitney loved her new Our Generation doll (naturally, I chose the equestrian one

 and the horse that accompanied it.)

 Kyle and Braden got an "open together" kind of gift.

 Matching throwback Flyin' Illini tee shirts!

Melissa, like most babies, preferred to play with the wrapping paper over what was actually in the box.

 Braden got his dad a Nintendo hat (Braden was so excited about that!)

 And Ashley liked the Nativity pop-up book I found online. (It is gorgeous!)

I had something of my dad's and something of my Grandfather Honeywell's to give to Kyle (Curt and Cole got theirs at Thanksgiving.)

 An old wristwatch that had belonged to my father,

 and a pocket watch that was Grandpa Honeywell's.

 He also received one of the three gold Masonic rings that had belonged to Grandpa Honeywell.

I was surprised with a gift from Addie - she had used some of her budget money while we were at Target to buy me a model horse. How sweet!