Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: Christmas
Christmas Eve at the Five and Dime
How much longer is he going to stay open, she wondered. It was already after seven and they’d opened at 9 that morning, Christmas Eve Day. Probably the biggest shopping day of the year at their Ben Franklin Store. Sometimes she thought her dad… Continue Reading “Christmas Eve at the Five and Dime”
The Blessing of Christmas Misery
I am a person with a very uneven Christmas life. When I was a kid, the quality of Christmas – not the presents but the mood – depended on whether business at our Ben Franklin Store had been good or not so good. There… Continue Reading “The Blessing of Christmas Misery”
The Bluest Bike
I want the cream-colored bike at Target, the one with the old fashioned handlebars and a brown leather seat. It has fenders like the big blue bike I had as a kid that I rode down 10 1/2 Mile Road, a wide dirt road… Continue Reading “The Bluest Bike”
Christmas Greeting: Small Is Beautiful
Every time I take the path from the bluff down to the shore of Lake Michigan at our beloved Doctors Park, I see the picnic table where, forty years ago, I sat with my young daughter on Christmas Day as she pulled out the… Continue Reading “Christmas Greeting: Small Is Beautiful”
The Gnomes Will Be Happy
This is our tree. We bought it for the tiny gnomes that live under the dining room table, you know, so they’d feel happy at Christmas, like we did something just for them, didn’t take them for granted. It’s important sometimes to bust out… Continue Reading “The Gnomes Will Be Happy”
99 New: True Value
I’ve spent the last year hanging around people who hug you like they mean it. And it’s softened me up. So I get what that does for people who are homeless. God, it is a relief not to be judged. To have people be… Continue Reading “99 New: True Value”
99 New: Christmas Eve Hope
I hope you’ve strung lights over the kitchen sink. I hope you lit a candle in the window. I hope someone surprised you with cookies. I hope you listened to a choir sing. I hope you give a gift and receive one. That’s what… Continue Reading “99 New: Christmas Eve Hope”
Christmas Greeting: Small Is Beautiful
Every time I take the path from the bluff down to the shore of Lake Michigan at our beloved Doctors Park, I see the picnic table where, forty years ago, I sat with my young daughter on Christmas Day as she pulled out the… Continue Reading “Christmas Greeting: Small Is Beautiful”
99 New: Friday Before Christmas Round-Up
The new dog peed on the dining room rug. Prior to this, said dog would have been referred to as our “Beloved Romeo.” The bloom is off the rose. I suffered an invisible defeat this week. It was a classic instance of overestimating myself and… Continue Reading “99 New: Friday Before Christmas Round-Up”
99 New: Endings
It was my custom to make peanut brittle on Christmas Eve, early so it was done but slightly warm at dinnertime and we could wrap it in boxes for my daughter to give to her grandparents where she spent Christmas Eve while I stayed… Continue Reading “99 New: Endings”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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