The Angel Tree (a heartwarming Koch family Christmas tale)

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Every family has their own “family lore” – stories handed down from generation to generation.  These are generally told around the campfire, on the front porch, or around the dining room table.  The good ones are side-splittingly funny; the really great ones are the ones which manage to embarass one or more family members.

Every year, Paul or I will drag out this old chestnut – it never fails to leave friends and family rolling in the aisles:

When Rebecca was a baby, Paul would oftentimes get Sarah and Michelle ready for school in the mornings.  Since they were ages 9 and 10 at the time, this consisted of waking them up. telling them to get dressed/ready, and driving them 3 blocks to the school.

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A Thanksgiving Classic

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From 1978, this classic clip from the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” never fails to leave me in stitches:

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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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Thanksgiving Music: “Come Ye Thankful People”

Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

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Whenever I think of Thanksgiving, this is the song that comes to mind – and this is a beautiful arrangement sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:
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Tuesday Tunes: “Simple Gifts”

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There are plenty of videos with this beautiful song out there, but I absolutely LOVE the photography used in this one – it’s full of the people and things that make America such a great country:
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(“Simple Gifts” from “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland, performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted by Leonard Bernstein, is available in CD and MP3 formats)
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Sunday Funnies: “How Long Does It Take You People To Shop?!?!?!?”

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They’ve started already – the ads for Christmas come earlier and earlier each year. I’m old enough to remember when we actually got through Thanksgiving before we started seeing and/or hearing Christmas stuff. I may not always agree with Lewis Black’s political views, but when I heard this bit about Christmas years and years ago, I was laughing so hard that I was in tears.

STRONG warning for language – even stronger warning to go pee before you watch this:
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On Jonathan’s Birthday – “Autumn Leaves”


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(Author’s note: I have been in the hospital for 2 months, so this completely slipped by me. I’m publishing it today, but Jonathan’s birthday was November 11th)
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Today would have been my friend Becky’s oldest son’s 33rd birthday.  Jonathan left us much too soon (a car accident in 2001), but he left lots of great memories behind for those who loved him best.

One of the things that his family ran across while looking for things to include in his memorial service was a poem that he had written in one of his classes about a leaf falling to the ground.  It gave them great comfort, and ever since then whenever Autumn rolls around I like to think that Jonathan is surrounding everyone who knew and loved him with his presence.

Every time I hear this song, I think about Jonathan and his family:

(“Autumn Leaves” sung by Eva Cassidy is available in CD and MP3 formats)
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“Of the People, By the People, For the People”

Gettysburg Memorial.

Today marks the 152nd anniversary of a most solemn occasion:

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Saying Goodbye – Three Years Later

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The following is a reprint from August 25, 2012:

…..She had drawn her first breath; she quietly drew her last, with no farewell but one loving look, one little sigh.

With tears and prayers and tender hands, Mother and sisters made her ready for the long sleep that pain would never mar again, seeing with grateful eyes the beautiful serenity that soon replaced the pathetic patience that had wrung their hearts so long, and feeling with reverent joy that to their darlings death was a benignant angel, not a phantom full of dread.

When morning came, for the first time in many months the fire was out, [her] place was empty, and the room was very still. But a bird sang blithely on a budding bough, close by, the snowdrops blossomed freshly at the window, and the spring sunshine streamed in like a benediction over the placid face ….. a face so full of painless peace that those who loved it best smiled through their tears, and thanked God that [she] was well at last……

– from Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Patient and long-suffering, Lady put up with a lot….

The time finally came to let our beloved family pet, Lady, go. She had been with us for so long that it is hard to remember a time when she wasn’t here. She “grew up” with all of the girls – she was already part of our family when Rebecca was born.

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They’re Baaack….. (“Strike Back” Season 4 Starts Tonight)

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A couple of years ago, we started watching a show/series on Cinemax called “Strike Back” – it very quickly became one of our guilty pleasures.

There’s plenty of nice eye candy for Paul and me (some of it is definitely for “mature” audiences, though, IYKWIMAITTYD)

There’s lots of guns, too.
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Sunday Funnies: It’s What Dads Do

Several years ago, one of the kids’ dumber-than-dirt cats ran up the neighbor’s tree and wouldn’t come down. Meowed piteously for a couple of days.  The girls were almost in tears, thinking about their poor little kitty up in that tree.  Finally, they did what all kids on TV do….

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