Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sarah Vance-Tompkins to HJ!
Hi Sarah and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Christmas Dilemma!
To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:
Audrey Elliott wants an unforgettable Christmas. Eli Adair wants to forget Christmas. They’re together under one roof for the holidays. Yeah. Sure. This should go well.
Or maybe not.
Eli is the first call whenever his family and friends need a hand. But this Christmas, he has no obligations to anyone, including his three very demanding sisters, so he’s taking a break from the stress of big family celebrations. No presents under the tree. No stockings by the fireplace. No twinkling lights.
All he wants is to be home alone at Hillcrest House. Some time to process his grief over holidays past.
Audrey is a travel nurse returning to Christmas Tree Cove hoping to be a part of a big holiday celebration like the ones on her grandparents’ farm—all she has left of happier times before her mom’s condition causes their shared memories to be lost forever. Her dreams are full Christmas. Candy canes. Gingerbread houses. Holiday carols.
All Audrey wants is a place to call home for Christmas.
When Audrey’s high school frenemy assures her there’s plenty of room at her family’s stately home, Hillcrest House, it seems like all of Audrey’s Christmas dreams are coming true until she discovers she’ll be living with Eli. The guy who broke her heart. She’s never forgotten him. Or the first kiss they shared.
Eli and Audrey are about to discover whether December is about reliving old traditions—or making new ones.
Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:
My favorite line from The Christmas Dilemma is in Chapter Five. It’s a giggle because I like to laugh:
“I’ve worked in a lot of urban hospitals,” Audrey said. “Gunshot wounds. Stab wounds. Overdoses.”
Shannon shrugged. “Not something we see a lot here. During deer-hunting season, we have an accidental firearm discharge or two. Honestly, we run a tight ship. You’re not going to have an easy time breaking into the team. But I hope you’ll find a way to blend. We really need your help.”
“I hope so, too.”
“I assume you’re smart enough to stay away from the four Ps.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“Paramedics, physicians, police, and p-firefighters. They’re all trouble. Believe me,” she said with wink. “I just married a p-firefighter.”
Audrey laughed. “Thanks for the warning, but I’ve lived by the rules for the past five years.”
“I hope you didn’t come to the north woods expecting to meet a guy who smells like a pine forest and looks hot in a plaid flannel shirt. They’re in short supply.”
“Actually,” Audrey said with a smile. “I came for the Christmas memories.”
What inspired this book?
My hometown in the north woods of Michigan inspires every Christmas romance I write. When I’m sitting in southern California on an eighty-degree November day, and Bing Crosby croons, “I’ll be home for Christmas. If only in my dreams…” my imagination slips away to the small town in northern Michigan and the holidays I remember when I was a child and the importance of family. Especially at the holidays. Extended family, who gather around a table not just for food, but also for the love and laughter that makes someone feel as if they belong. The smells of Christmas dinner wafting through the house. The scent of pine from the fresh cut tree in the living room. The gently falling snow outside that didn’t matter when there was a crackling fire in the hearth.
These are things you take for granted as a child. When you’re an adult you realize Christmas is a time to not only hold memories in your heart, but to make new ones as well. And that’s what The Christmas Dilemma is all about. Making the choice to leave the past behind and make new memories for the future.
I can’t imagine a better place to celebrate the holidays than northern Michigan. Even those years when my family had suffered through a loss, or I was about to make a big lifestyle change, something happened during the Christmas season that could only be explained as having happened by magic. Something that renewed my belief in the spirit of Christmas.
How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?
Audrey is bright and sparkling, like twinkle lights on a Christmas tree. A bright and beautiful spirit. She’s dedicated to her career as a travel nurse in the emergency department. She is committed to her job, but in her personal life she doesn’t have many chances to make connections beyond her professional colleagues. Her dating pool of eligible men is very small and exacerbated by the fact that every thirteen weeks she begins a new assignment at a new hospital. She craves commitment and connection, yearning for the days when she was a child celebrating Christmas in the midst of a big extended family. That’s why she’s returned to the area, to relive some of the magic of her Christmas memories.
Eli is the lump of coal in the toe of your stocking hung on the mantle over the fireplace. In truth, he’s sweet, kind and considerate, but his older sisters’ have taken advantage of his willingness to drop everything and come to their rescue once too often. He’s also still struggling to process his feelings about his parents’ death on Christmas Eve and would rather do that in private than in public. And so, he’s decided to skip Christmas.
What was your favorite scene to write?
My favorite part to write of any romance is the slow and gradual awareness of the main characters’ dawning attraction to each other. The more awkward and ridiculous, the better. For example, when Audrey gets caught spying on Eli in Chapter Eleven:
Watching Eli chop wood should be illegal, but Audrey couldn’t help herself. She’d planned to run errands on her day off but didn’t get any further than the kitchen after being distracted by Eli swinging an axe in the backyard.
He was so strong. And trapped in a house filled with the ghosts of his past. Including her.
You’re falling for him.
She couldn’t help it, even though he was dating Olivia Martell. And struggling with his family obligations. Audrey was drawn to him.
Eli squinted at the kitchen window, and she ducked down before he caught her ogling him. Seconds later, his footsteps sounded on the backsteps. She shot to her feet like a Jack-in-the-Box.
He was taken aback.
“Hi,” she said, pink tinting her cheeks.
“Hey,” he said. “I’ve been meaning to show you how to use the coffeemaker. With the hours you work at the hospital, a good cup of coffee is a necessity.”
What was the most difficult scene to write?
I struggled to write the blizzard sequence in The Christmas Dilemma. It was the middle of the story and all of the emotional conflict of the earlier chapters had been building to this point. Audrey and Eli needed to reveal their feelings to each other – but there’s a dangerous snowstorm brewing – and the logistics of when and how that was happening didn’t make my job easy. I had to write and rewrite until I got to the place where their emotions and the weather were both making demands on the urgency of the moment. I hope this snippet from Chapter Twelve, in Eli’s point of view, makes it all clear:
Eli pulled her closer and breathed in, savoring her familiar vanilla-sugar scent while he comforted her. He wasn’t certain if she was injured but he held her until her tears quieted. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he never wanted to let her go.
Since she’d been living at Hillcrest House, his days had a purpose he’d been missing. He’d isolated himself from his family. Now he needed to reach out. Even if she was dating someone else. All that mattered at that moment was that she was okay, and she was with him.
He cradled her head in his hand. Let his fingers drift through the tendrils of her hair. She tucked her head back under his chin and pressed her face into his shoulder.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“What possessed you to drive out here?” he asked. “In a blizzard.”
“It was a beautiful day. I needed some Christmas cheer. I wanted to go to the source. I went to Red Trillium Farm.”
“Once again, Christmas proves to be the problem rather than the solution,” he said.
“In my own defense, it wasn’t snowing when I left Christmas Tree Cove. It wasn’t bad until I’d driven out past Sugar Hill.”
“Yeah. It’s dangerous when a storm comes on this fast.
Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?
If I could write nothing but Christmas romances every day for the rest of my life, I’d be very happy. The Christmas Dilemma is truly the kind of sweet contemporary romance I’d always dreamed of being able to write. I am a huge fan of Hallmark Christmas movies. I attended USC film school, and so I learned to write screenplays before I learned about writing fiction. Even now, when my clear focus is on telling stories through the structure of a romance novel, in my imagination the plot always unfolds in a very cinematic manner.
What do you want people to take away from reading this book?
The holidays are a time of true magic. They can also be a time when people are haunted by memories of Christmases past – both good and bad. I wanted The Christmas Dilemma to be about two people who must choose to move beyond their individual Christmas memories of holidays past, and make the commitment to take the leap and create new holiday memories together.
What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?
The Christmas Dilemma is the third book in the Adair Family series set in a small town in northern Michigan. On Christmas Tree Cove was a second chance romance. Wishing For Mr. Right was an opposites attract romance. And the hero was a cheesemaker. I can think of nothing sexier because I love cheese. Almost as much as I love writing contemporary romance. I wrapped up a wild and crazy personal project at the end of October. I’m not sure what direction my writing will lead me in – but lately I’ve kind of had a hankering to see if I can write cowboys!
Thanks for blogging at HJ!
Giveaway: Winner will receive one ebook copy of THE CHRISTMAS DILEMMA and one additional ebook of the winner’s choice from the Tule Publishing ebook library.
To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: The Christmas Dilemma is about memories of Christmases past.
What are your favorite holiday memories? What are your most difficult holiday memories? How do they both play a part in making new holiday traditions for your family to share during the Christmas season?
Excerpt from The Christmas Dilemma:
Chapter One
AUDREY
Audrey Elliott celebrated Thanksgiving in the Chicago O’Hare airport gobbling up a slice of lukewarm pizza. She washed it down with a glass of red wine that tasted like cough syrup. It was not the first holiday she’d spent alone. Nor the worst food she’d ever had on Thanksgiving. The vending machine burrito she’d inhaled at Mass General last year was still the big winner by a landslide.
A seasoned traveler, Audrey was grateful she’d finally found a table overlooking the tarmac while waiting on the standby announcements for the next leg of her long-delayed flight.
She’d anticipated crowds and endless lines getting through security at San Francisco International on one of the busiest travel days of the year, but she was taken aback by the chaos created by the mash-up of infrequent fliers and winter weather delays from coast-to-coast. And her air travel experience had transformed into an overcrowded circus of people behaving badly.
Twenty-four hours later than expected, she arrived in Chicago after spending a sleepless night on the floor near the gate. As soon as the plane came to a stop, the disheveled passengers got to their feet and acted like surly offensive linemen crowding the aisle to be the first at baggage claim and rush off to their Thanksgiving dinners.
Audrey had no reason to hurry. No one was keeping a plate of turkey and stuffing warm for her. She waited patiently while others deplaned, then strolled through the peaceful corridors of Chicago O’Hare at an easy pace. Tall and capable, no one ever worried she’d blow away in a good breeze. Unlike her mom, who was petite and feisty until she lost her battle with early on-set dementia. Then she’d melted like butter into a small and fragile person Audrey wanted to protect twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Audrey took another big glug of the wine for courage before she phoned her mom.
“Hello?” Her mom’s confusion was immediately apparent. The same loving voice that had comforted Audrey when she was a child, didn’t show any signs of recognition. Every time her mom treated her like a stranger, it was as if a jagged edge of glass cutting through her heart.
“Hi, Mom. Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Who is this?” Mom was immediately brittle and defensive.
“It’s me. Audrey.”
“Oh, Audrey,” she said, her voice softening. “How nice of you to call. I have a daughter by the same name.”
Audrey swallowed hard. It was going to be one of those days. “Yes. I remember you told me that. How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Same as ever. But what am I’m doing here?” Mom asked. “My children picked this place. What did I do to deserve this? The people here aren’t nice to me.”
“They aren’t?” Audrey’s superhuman nurse senses started tingling. She needed more information. “What’s going on?”
“I want to see Red Trillium Farm. I need to finish the floral border. And they won’t let me leave,” Mom said in a tone of dazed exasperation.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Audrey said. “Do you want me to talk to the nurse?”
“What can you do?” Mom snapped. “I don’t even know who you are.”
Audrey kept the conversation going for a few more minutes before she said goodbye and clicked off. Her stomach clinched tight. She took a deep breath, relaxing enough to let her memories of Red Trillium Farm to fill her heart.
One magical Christmas Eve when she was in elementary school, her mom tucked her in under a pile of antique quilts and blankets under the gabled roof of the old farmhouse. She was the youngest cousin staying with her grandparents for the holidays and the last of Santa’s true believers in the family.
“I’m too excited to sleep,” she whispered.
“Why don’t you listen for Santa’s footsteps on the roof?” Mom suggested.
“Do you think he’s really coming?” she asked.
Mom smiled. “If you listen very carefully, I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”
Audrey had fallen asleep filled with the joy only the anticipation of Santa could give a small child.
Growing up in Christmas Tree Cove was idyllic until her world turned upside down when she and her mom moved away during her senior year of high school. She left for nursing school shortly after and wasn’t aware of her mom’s struggles with short-term memory loss.
She was in the middle of finals week in nursing school at Emory when Will called to tell her their mother was struggling with cognitive issues. Audrey was blindsided by the news. Unable to focus on her classwork, she returned home to discover her older brother had put their mom in the first facility he found with a memory care unit. On her first visit, Audrey was immediately aware it wasn’t up to her professional standards.
She stepped in and did her due diligence, finding a place with excellent marks from healthcare professionals. It was more expensive than the facility where her mom had been living.
Will was ten years older than Audrey and considered himself very sophisticated having grown up in Chicago. He wasn’t impressed with the changes Audrey made to their mom’s living arrangements. He was only concerned about the bottom line. “The doctors can’t get her memory back,” Will explained, his tone condescending as if she wasn’t a medical professional. “Half the time she doesn’t know where she is. Why does she need to be in a state-of-the-art facility?”
“This is what is best for Mom,” Audrey insisted. “I won’t worry about her as much while I’m three thousand miles away if I know she has good care.”
“Why don’t you find a job at a hospital in Detroit?” he suggested. “Then you could be here for Mom and take care of her in your free time.”
Audrey didn’t respond.
I don’t want to settle.
The truth was the idea of making a long-term commitment of any kind made Audrey uncomfortable. She wasn’t interested. Not even when Jamie Dawson, her contact at the travel nurse agency said, “San Francisco General wants to make you a part of their emergency department permanently.” There were offers from other hospitals, too.
Audrey always demurred.
“You’re more likely to meet someone if you’re not moving from one side of the country to the other every thirteen weeks for work,” Jamie said. She worked at the travel nurse agency and had been assigned to play professional matchmaker for Audrey. Despite Audrey’s frequent protests, Jamie was also on high alert to find romance for her.
“Who are you waiting for? The perfect man doesn’t exist,” Jamie insisted. “You need to date more. Get out and mingle. It’s a numbers game.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” Audrey said. “The perfect man for me is out there somewhere. I’m willing to wait.”
“You have unreasonable expectations for a relationship.”
“Maybe,” Audrey said. “Or maybe I have very high standards.”
“For example?” Jamie asked.
“First kisses,” Audrey said. Her first kiss made her heart flutter. Still did.
“Tell me more,” Jamie said.
Audrey shook her head. “Let’s just say someone set a very high bar. And I’m not settling until I have those feelings again.”
Free of romantic entanglements, Audrey was the perfect candidate to be a traveling nurse. Every thirteen weeks, she packed up her belongings into boxes and suitcases. And moved to a new place often thousands of miles away.
She liked to be needed and preferred the challenges of short-term assignments at overcrowded and understaffed hospitals in mostly urban areas. She made friends quickly and worked hard to seamlessly blend into each new team of hard-working medical professionals.
Thirteen weeks in San Francisco had gone in a blink of an eye. She swore she had just unpacked, then she was standing at her kitchen window saying goodbye to the Golden Gate Bridge the twin towers appearing to float in the fog, like the turrets of a fairytale castle.
Audrey was thrilled every member of the emergency department at San Francisco General Hospital had gathered to raise a glass or two to send her off to her next assignment. She’d formed tight bonds with her crew where life and death was on the line every day.Passing the time in the O’Hare Airport she flipped through the photos on her phone of her wild and raucous going-away party. She snorted out loud over the photo of conservative anesthesiologists Bram and Phil showing off their matching med school tattoos. And the pic of all the RNs gathered to form a rainbow of matching surgical caps brought tears to her eyes. She’d made every single one as going-away gifts from vintage fabric she’d found in thrift stores using her grandmother’s pattern.
She was still flipping through photos when a man seated at a nearby table attempted to take a selfie of him and his wife in front while balancing his carry-on luggage, and two Styrofoam cups of coffee in a cardboard carrier.
“Here, let me help you.” Audrey got to her feet and crossed the room.
She smiled at the couple posing in front of her, eliciting the same response from them. Their smiles were broad, their faces open and friendly. The background didn’t matter. It was obvious they were madly in love.
“How do they look?” he asked.
“They’re all Christmas-card worthy,” Audrey said, returning the phone.
“Thank you,” the woman gushed.
Audrey smiled even though she was certain she looked like roadkill. Her hair was in wild disarray, falling over her shoulders and into her face. For work, she usually secured her hair into a no-nonsense bun. She slicked back her strays with a pomade without any hint of face-framing curls. A few lazy swipes of black mascara on her long, dark eyelashes were the only indulgences she gave to her vanity.
Audrey found a hair tie in the bottom of her bag and pulled her hair up into a messy top knot. Then she moved up to the counter and put herself on the standby list for the next available flight. She was slumped in an uncomfortable chair near a gate listening to an eclectic playlist on her iPhone when Jamie called.
“Where are you?”
“Chicago. My flight out of San Francisco was delayed. I’m flying standby. And my luggage is no longer in the tracking system.”
“Ugh.”
“Ugh is right,” Audrey agreed. “Why are you calling me? Why aren’t you celebrating Thanksgiving with your family?”
“The food has been eaten. Leftovers put away,” Jamie said. “And calling you is how I’m getting out of doing the dishes.”
Audrey laughed. “I’m glad I could help.”
“Yeah. Well. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s been a slight change of plans. You’re not going to Traverse City.”
“What?” Audrey sat up straight, knocking red wine down the front of her sweater. She stood up to clean off with a napkin but made the mess even worse. “Dammit.”
“I’m sorry,” Jamie said. “The rental we reserved for you cancelled at the last minute.”
“But I’ve been dreaming of a white Christmas,” Audrey said. “How did this happen?”
“Northern Michigan is a big-time tourist destination. Short-term rentals have eliminated almost all affordable housing in the area. Despite the healthy per diem, they’re offering to cover the cost of housing and food, there isn’t anything available. Don’t worry. You won’t miss a day of work. I’ll find you another assignment. Some place warm and sunny.”
Audrey wasn’t interested in a placement in a tropical climate. “The truth is, I grew up in a little town near Traverse City called Christmas Tree Cove. I wanted to be there for Christmas. And visit my mom on weekends.”
“You have a connection to the area? Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“We were too busy talking placements and contracts.” She tossed her caramel-colored shawl around her shoulders to cover her wine-stained sweater.
“Christmas Tree Cove is where I learned to ride a bike. Became interested in science and made my first bomb with a Bunsen burner and hydrochloric acid. And my first kiss…” Audrey stopped. She’d said too much.
“Wait. What? Your first kiss? Where? Who??”
“Under the crab apple tree. Eli Adair.” His name tumbled off her lips in a rush. And as soon as it did, her stomach flip-flopped.
“Captain of the football team?”
Audrey laughed. “Not a chance. He called himself a Star Wars enthusiast. Tall. Skinny. Glasses. Super smart.”
“Is he single? Does he still live in the area?”
Audrey shrugged. “Doubtful. He went to University of Michigan. He probably lives in Silicon Valley with all the other tech bros who played too many video games in their free time in high school.”
“You haven’t kept in touch?”
“There was a misunderstanding.” Audrey swallowed hard. “Feelings got hurt. His. Mine. It was unfortunate.”
The last time she’d laid eyes on Eli, he had walked away from her, one hand raking through his tobacco-brown mane of curls. He’d glanced back over his shoulder, his bluer than blue eyes shooting daggers at her. He had good reason. She’d broken his heart. And her own.
“He lived in Christmas Tree Cove, too?”
“Oh, yes. The Adairs had my favorite home in all of Christmas Tree Cove. Hillcrest House,” Audrey said, her voice bright with memories. “The most perfect Christmas house ever. High up on the hill overlooking the harbor. Every year for the holidays, his mother covered it in twinkle lights and put a candle in every window.” When she closed her eyes, Hillcrest House filled her imagination. “Eli’s sister and I were high school rivals,” Audrey said. “Competing to see who would get better grades and be class valedictorian. But my parents divorced. My mom and I moved to suburban Detroit over winter break. My dad died six months later. And I’ve never been back to Christmas Tree Cove.
“Sounds like a terrible way to end a rivalry,” Jamie said.
“The worst.” Audrey had been homesick and miserable.
“Do the Adairs still own Hillcrest House?”
“I don’t know. Dacey had plans for world domination when she enrolled at an Ivy League business school. I can’t imagine she’d still be living in Christmas Tree Cove.”
“It doesn’t sound very promising,” Jamie said. “I’ll tell you what. I’m going to put out my feelers and see if I can place you as soon as possible.”
“But I really want the Traverse City assignment,” Audrey said. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. Is there anything I can do?”
“Call Eli’s sister,” Jamie suggested. “See if she knows anyone with a short-term rental property in the area. The hospital administrators are asking applicants to have proof of housing before we submit their credentials for consideration. Or you can throw caution to the wind and call Eli.”
“No. Way. It’s Thanksgiving,” Audrey said. “And we haven’t spoken in over ten years.”
“Reaching out to one of them is your only hope to get what you want for Christmas,” Jamie said. “Listen. I’m going to send out some emails. If you find a rental in Christmas Tree Cove, let me know immediately.”
Audrey slumped back in the chair.
For weeks all she’d been dreaming about was returning to Christmas Tree Cove for the holidays. The happiest memories of her life were Christmases at Red Trillium Farm. Her grandparent’s little farmhouse was decorated with twinkle lights inside and out. Stockings were hung by the fireplace. A grand tree trimmed next to the fireplace. Her grandmother’s kitchen was scented with sugar cookies, gingerbread, and roasted turkey, and her grandpa made sure the pine tree at the beginning of the long driveway was covered in bright-colored lights.
“So Santa will know you’re waiting for him,” he’d said with a broad grin.
And when it was time to open presents on Christmas morning, and her cousins and second cousins gathered in the tiny living room, it was joyful mayhem.
It was Audrey’s secret wish. To return to Christmas Tree Cove. After spending so many holidays on the job or all alone, all she wanted was to be a part of a big holiday celebration like the ones she remembered from her childhood.
Audrey flicked through the contacts in her iPhone, stopping when she came to the one marked Dacey Adair. She didn’t have a number for her cellphone. All she had was the number for the old house phone that used to ring on the wall in the kitchen at Hillcrest House. It had always been the center of all activity in the Adair household. She doubted it was still in service, but she hit the button for one-touch dialing.
“Hello.” The timbre of his voice was lower, but no question it was Eli. Laughter and music in the background nearly drowned him out. Her breath caught. She couldn’t find words to respond.
“Hello.” Eli asked, practically shouting. “Is anyone there?”
“Is Dacey there?” she whispered, half hoping, half fearing he’d recognize her voice. And immediately they’d begin a conversation that lasted for hours and hours. They’d talk about nothing and everything. Like they did when they were teenagers and their hearts had never been broken. She held her breath.
“Hold on,” he responded crisply.
Then he was gone. Her heart skipped a beat. Was there a chance Eli Adair still lived in Christmas Tree Cove?
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Book Info:
Skipping Christmas is easy. But it’s impossible to deny your heart…
Eli Adair is the first call whenever his family and friends need a hand. But this Christmas, he has no obligations, so he’s taking a break from the stress of big family celebrations. No presents under the tree. No stockings by the fireplace. No twinkling lights.
All he wants is to be home alone at Hillcrest House.
Travel nurse Audrey Elliott is returning to Christmas Tree Cove hoping for a big holiday celebration like the ones on her grandparents’ farm—all she has left of happier times before her mom’s condition lost those memories. Candy canes. Gingerbread houses. Holiday carols.
All Audrey wants is a place to call home for Christmas.
When a high school friend assures her there’s plenty of room at Hillcrest House, it seems like all her Christmas dreams are coming true until she discovers she’ll be living with Eli, the boy she’s never forgotten. Or the first kiss they shared.
Eli and Audrey are about to discover whether December is about reliving traditions—or making new ones.
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Meet the Author:
Sarah Vance-Tompkins was born in a small town in northern Michigan. She received an MFA in Film Production from the University of Southern California, and went on to work in feature film development for ten years. Prior to film school, she worked as an on-air radio personality. She is a lifetime reader of romance and is excited to be writing in the genre. She and her husband live in Southern California with a glaring of unruly cats.
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Latesha B.
Favorite holiday memories involve getting together with extended family and being together. Difficult memories deal with the fact that quite a few of those family members are no longer with us and family gatherings are not the same. It’s hard to make new traditions as those who are left want to do things with their immediate family only.
Glenda M
Growing up, I loved when any of my grandparents came out for Christmas! As a parent, I loved (still do) baking with the kids. Shopping with the kids for donations was also a lot of fun since it helped reinforce the giving part of Christmas — having to explain price limits when doing this shopping was never fun.
Patricia Barraclough
One of my favorite memories is the Christmas our girls were about 2 and 3. My husband was in the Air Force and wouldn’t be home until 3 days after Christmas. The girls were young enough not to know the difference, so we delayed Christmas until he got home. His mother had sent them gifts and I decided to let them open grandmother’s gift on Christmas morning. They were baby dolls almost as big as they were. When you held them they laughed and when you set them down they cried. Of course the girls would turn them on, play with them a bit, then put them down going off to play with something else, leaving them crying. Very annoying, but I have been around little ones my whole life and found the noise easy to ignore until I got around to turning them off. Not so my husband. When he got home, the first thing the girls wanted to show him were their new dolls which they left crying on the floor. I told him to be patient. The batteries wouldn’t last much longer, and they didn’t. I never replaced them and the girls never seemed to notice.
My most difficult Christmas memories are about the first Christmas after my mother died (she was 47). The following year was difficult because it was our first Christmas after getting married. He was sent back to Vietnam 5 weeks after we were married and was to be home by Christmas. They extended him into January. He was in B-52’s and the bombing over Hanoi kicked off Dec.16. I spent the holidays listening to the news waiting for a call from him every time a plane was shot down.
Both make me appreciate my time with family. We never know how long we will have them in our lives.
Debra Guyette
Family getting together is my best memory. It can be sad as we lose someone.
TexasBookLover
Best is decorating with my girls. Hardest is losing my dad and FIL.
bn100
decorating
Nicky Ortiz
Christmas Eve dinner with my moms family.
Thanks for the chance!
Ellen C.
Being together with friends and family at the holidays. Saddest times when there was a death during the holidays or the first holidays after a family member had died. We’ve changed a few traditions, but the basic ones are still around.
Mary C
Favorite memory – first Christmas with my grandmother
Most difficult – first Christmas without my Mom
Kathleen O
It would be the last time my family was all together for Christmas in 2004.
Bonnie
Decorating the Christmas tree with ornaments we have collected throughout the years is one of our favorite family traditions.