Merry Christmas!

The chestnuts are roasting by the open fire ... the stockings are all hung by the chimney with care ... Is the calendar actually right? December 22, already? Crazy schedules and unwell family members have kept my attention other faraway places -- not on being a breast cancer survivor and not on writing a blog post. This December has been very unlike the last, when I lived in my La-Z-Boy rocker, forced myself to do my rehab exercises, and tried my best to be the household peacemaker with lots of kids and husbands about.

Although I have no new updates from doctor appointments or test results, I simply couldn't let this holiday season come and go without leaving you with my holiday wishes. In the hallway at my high school, huge sheets of green and red paper were strung from ceiling to floor for staff and students to write their "wishes for the world" this holiday season.  Now, these ARE teenagers I'm talking about, so I shouldn't have been surprised when I read inspirational wisdom like "I wish everyone in the world could eat bacon." Oh my!!

My list can be summed in a few simple wishes. It goes something like this ...

I wish you kindness -- from those, and to those, you meet each day.

I wish you to truly treasure each moment -- do whatever you can with each moment to make yourself, or someone else, feel more joy, more love.

I wish that the world would remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

My Gifts for You

May silent stillness

encircle you

with gentle arms

to quiet your racing mind.

May childlike wonderment

overwhelm you while

gazing at crisp,winter sunshine

on glistening hoar frost.

May timeless treasures

comfort you,

magical memories

shining the light of love

into every corner of

your heart.

Love, Yvonne, December 2013