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The Christmas Letters
A Timeless Story for Every Generation
By Bret Nicholaus CENTER STREET
Copyright © 2006 Bret Nicholaus
All right reserved. ISBN: 1-931-72295-1
Chapter One
It's been about six months since that cool and rainy June afternoon when Grandpa passed away. Last Christmas Eve, he predicted that he would not be around to celebrate another Christmas with us, but of course we chose not to believe it. As was often the case in our family, we were wrong and Grandpa was right.
The first few months without Grandpa were hard for many of us, as the long summer seemed to fade ever so slowly into fall. But fall, in traditional fashion, picked up the pace and quickly changed to winter, bringing with it five inches of snow last Saturday afternoon. Inspired by the beauty of December's first white blanket, my wife, our six-year-old daughter, and I spent the evening bringing all our boxes of holiday decorations down from the attic.
In the past, preparing for Christmas in our household was more likely to produce a few good arguments than it was to create feelings of goodwill. The commotion of Christmas came early and often, and bright spirits rarely lasted past the first batch of cookies.
This year, however, things appear to be headed in a different direction. The disagreements, fussing, and overall busyness that usually accompany the month of December are, by and large, absent; sincere joy and a true sense of peace seem to be present in our lives. There is no doubt in my mind that Christmas-and dare I say lifein general-has taken on a new meaning, not only for the three of us here but for other members of our family as well.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Christmas Letters by Bret Nicholaus Copyright © 2006 by Bret Nicholaus. Excerpted by permission.
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