Dear Reader:

Yesterday was one of those special times, that come along bringing extraordinarily memorable moments on ordinary days.

It all began with the “Wheel barrow” sleigh delivering red poinsettias to each family on Rainbow road…No one was at home so this sneaky old elf was able to leave every poinsettia with a verse on the front porch and quickly run back to the house. Neighborhood Operation December First completed successfully!

I, later, ran a variety of errands, along with a quick medical appointment, also included was putting bills in the mail…(not Christmas cards)…but I reminded myself to be thankful that I could pay them monthly…mostly.

Then I met Anne at Time Well Spent for a ‘spot of tea‘ and tomato pie, salad, and popovers.…which was really dessert in the big picture!

Looking out the corner window where we were seated…everything  was so whimsical…(besides the holiday decorative beauty inside all the rooms)…that the experience just put me and everyone else in a wonderful mood. ( A thank you to Matt Furlong for waiting on us so diligently…he was very kind to his old Alston Middle School teachers.)

One of the rooms in Time Well Spent looked like a winter wonderland filled with silver, glitter, and fairy tales… Cinderella’s carriage and a lit princess gown.

When I got home Walsh and the boys were waiting on me…Christmas arrives every time when grandchildren yell your name and run right to you.

Walsh and Mollie’s house is being painted, inside, so everything is crazy right now…but it will be worth it when Christmas arrives and all is freshly painted merry and bright!

I pulled out, and dusted off, the Christmas Advent Train…when Rutledge, Lachlan, and I opened up the first day for December  it told me to give each grandchild just a few m&ms for being so good.

Walsh and I  watched the boys play at the house and then took them to Laurel Street Park…a most beautiful late fall day…and apparently, one of the last nice warm ones before the cold front arrives later tonight.

I was able to talk to Walsh and get updated on all the adventures over Thanksgiving  and then about a serious incident that occurred on the way home last Sunday. They had just gotten on I-95 and had not gone very far when they witnessed a terrible accident….one car crossed out of his lane into the other on-coming traffic lane….which hit a car just a few cars ahead of them. It was a terrible collision.

Walsh and Mollie went into action…Walsh running to the scene to see if he could help and Mollie calling 911 for help. Soon patrol cars and policemen were everywhere and they came over several times to speak to Walsh and Mollie about what they had witnessed and nod kindly to the boys…Rutledge’s eyes were as big as saucers as he saw real heroes in action.

Walsh told me one particular policeman got a little emotional when he looked in their car and he saw the little boys…all excited in their innocence. He told Walsh and Mollie that a few seconds one way or the other and the car that got hit could possibly have been theirs.

Walsh and Mollie talked about it on the long drive home….with so much on their plates lately it is easy to feel overwhelmed but this incident put everything back in perspective…the idea of losing anyone or everyone in a fraction of a second…is a terrifying and sobering thought.

Walsh told me that the other day the painters were there and he was trying to help them get set up and watch the boys and he could feel his frustration building…but then he overheard their laughter and squealing, he thought about the car incident, and put everything down and went to go play with the boys…that was his top priority.

A life lesson in the brevity of life…”Staying alive is a terminal condition” with no guarantees except keeping the faith and living life in moments.

And how I loved watching Walsh interact with those two much- loved little boys…how lucky they are to have such caring, loving parents. They don’t know it now…but they have Christmas every single day.

Rutledge made this Olympic 10 dive off the Merry-G0-Round…but I think he was pretty shocked that the sand wasn’t as soft as it looked….water works better. He just laughed…kids are so resilient…but then again he is Captain America.

So until tomorrow…Go play…we adults need to do it more…and remember the excitement of just being alive again with endless possibilities ahead.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• 
• Mike Burrell-Woodworking
• Honey Burrell- Ceramics
• Many of you already know or have heard that Honey and Mike Burrell are not having their early Pre-Christmas Pottery/Woodworking Sale this year! (Normally it would have been this weekend.)
• There is certainly disappointment in this news concerning a very popular annual tradition but we, also, understand that some years are tougher than others and Honey said, this year, it would feel more like a chore than a fun project with so many other things she needs to do…and she never wants to feel that way about it because she, too, has loved seeing everyone and sharing her and Mike’s gifts and talents at Christmas with friends.

*A shout-out to Mary Lee who made me this quilted star, at church, to put on my Christmas tree….Anne brought it to the restaurant and I love it! Thank you so much…it will be the first ornament put on this year!

*Eva Cate had an urgent and important problem this week…her second bottom tooth started getting loose but just wouldn’t come out…this whole past week has been one of frustration and tears for Eva Cate and parents every evening…quite traumatic episodes.

Mandy said she prayed all the way to James B. Edwards that she had lost it at school….and she had! Eva Cate came out grinning proudly and told Mandy that she was eating honey barbecue potato chips and she felt something and her tooth came out…a friend helped her find it on the floor and the school nurse put it in a special bag (for all lost teeth) to take home for the tooth fairy!

Now all Eva Cate wants for Christmas is her “two bottom teeth.” (John and Mandy are just relieved that she is eating again…John’s made smoothies all week.)