BOOKS AND STORIES AND OTHER WORLDS...

The gifts are wrapped (well, most of them anyway),

cookies are baking as we speak,

my tree has survived all my forgetting to water it,

and everyone has presents under the tree.

This week I'll be doing the fun stuff:

decorating gingerbread men with the grandkids,

writing loving notes to everyone who will share the day with me,

making up that clam chowder we've had every Christmas since the days we lived in Santa Cruz (with the recipe the guys at Stagnaros on the wharf gave me)

And telling you about it with pictures and all.

Keep checking in for our favorite recipes and crazy Comer traditions... and for a beautifully designed printable version of the Christmas Story to read to your friends and family this weekend.

Love Stories will continue next Monday with part 2 of The One.

From my heart,

Diane

BOOKS AND STORIES AND OTHER WORLDS...

One of my earliest memories is of my mom reading to me. She’d tuck me safe into that soft spot every mama has, and I’d feel the rhythm of her words blow across my cheek in singsong cadence.

In her arms magical worlds opened, filling my mind with delightful imaginings of dragons and damsels and Dr. Seuss. I remember smoothing my hand over the pictures as if to transport myself into the story, and my mother’s assuring words that yes, I do dare turn the page; everything works out by the end.

Without ever saying so, she taught me that stories tell truths, that the ending is worth the wait, that real life is more than what we see… and in all that unspoken teaching, my mother gave me a great gift— a love for books.

And so, this Christmas, I’ve purchased stacks and stacks of books. Bekah gets some for her Modern Library collection. John Mark’s are heady stories about real things like famous men and innovative design. My entrepreneurial son-in-law, Steve, will delve into books about how business and theology meld together. Phil’s interests lie in all those stories of World War II he grew up with; books about B-24 Bombers and Zeros and Winston Churchill line his shelves. I’m still looking for something really special for Matt. Ever since we both caught the Brian Jacques bug, it’s been difficult to find stories that compare.

And since I love books and I’ve enticed my own children to love books, now I’m campaigning for my grand kids. When Jude and Moses and Duke come to my house to play… I read them books. And when I tuck them tight into that mama-spot and place my hands over theirs on the sides of whichever books we’ve chosen, we step into those mystical worlds of magic and wonder together.

But I need some ideas. We’ve read my books too many times and we’re overdue for something new, or maybe something old… and new to us.

And so I send out an urgent plea:

What were your favorite books as a child? What did you read over and over again? What stories and pictures fill your mind still? Have you discovered something new and beautiful that you’re sure every child should read?

Would you send me your list?

Waiting for your ideas…

From my heart,

Diane