Happy holidays

Christmas morning in Igo.

The full moon faded, like the last snippets of a dream, as the sun rose and washed orange and pink over Igo.

The sunrise illuminated the dusting of snow upon Bully Choop and the other surrounding mountains. It bounced off dew drops that covered oak and manzanita leaves and turned them into thin, golden wafers. 

And all over the world people are moving and waking up and celebrating this special day in their own way.

In downtown Redding, the city tree stands in its parking lot.

And the new lights at the north end of The Mall in downtown Redding show a glimpse of how great it feels to once again be hatless, and dressed for the holidays.

And in Igo, the Beer Bar & Store is decked out for the holidays.

And in my home, photos of family and friends mingle with lights and ornaments, a reminder that love and relationships are what matter most.  

As always, I find myself continuing traditions that the kids started – like when Josh and Joe positioned the elf to peer under the angel’s dress – even though the kids haven’t lived at home for many years now. That’s the wonder and hold of traditions. They keep going, even when the people who started them aren’t around.

In my fantasy, everyone is happy and healthy. In reality, many people are sick or in strife. 

I was reminded of that last week when hospice and grief expert Marilyn Traugott wrote her wonderful essay about coping with grief during the holidays. In response, Miranda, a grieving mother, shared how, although her son died two years ago, she feels the loss now more than ever.

That prompted a message of consolation from Grammalyn, and yet another message from Marilyn.

That exchange epitomizes what I’d hoped for Food for Thought.

Yes, it’s a place that offers information, opinions, alerts, feature writing, photos, recipes, and, going forward, enterprising news stories, and much more.  

But it is my heart’s desire that Food for Thought be a community-minded place where “we” were more important than me.

In fact, thanks to a recent innocent typo where one of you referred to Food for Thought as a “We site” – it occurred to me that “We site” perfectly describes how I see this place. 

We site. Really, it’s brilliant.

On this Christmas day, I give thanks for the major life-changing d0-over that led me to this “We site.”

I give thanks to all of you who’ve offered suggestions and support, not just to me, but to one another via comments and the ever-growing forums.

I give thanks to my technical creators and advisers: My son Joe in the Czech Republic, my friend Jim in Redding, and my husband Bruce, my business manager, copy editor, cheerleader, sounding board, deadline pusher and fact-and-reality checker.  

I give thanks to our Q&A experts and guest speakers who accepted the invitation to take their time and effort to write for this site. I thank businesses like Allen & Dahl that have worked with us to provide valuable information.

Which leads me back to you. Without you to read this site, it wouldn’t exist.  

I give thanks for new ideas and new friends and new hope and new life, like the birth of 4-month-old May Violet, our family’s first baby in our kids’ generation, born to my niece Brooke and her husband, Justin. Little May saved the holidays for our family, still raw from the loss of my nephew Matt, who loved Christmas so much, and died in March at just 20.

The months moved forward. And here we are at Christmas, before us lies the gift of another day.

For this day and all others, I wish for you fun times, good health, laughter, light hearts and peace of mind. I wish for the knowledge that we are all unique individuals, created with unique talents and unique life paths.

I wish you happy, safe trails as you search out and find your life path.

I wish you peace on earth. I wish you comfort and joy.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and yours.

Doni