Surviving the Holidays & Festive Thoughts
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Rupture and Repair: Strengthening Family Bonds
My immediate and maternal extended family just got together for the largest holiday meal in years. People who hadn’t been able to attend due to family tension in decades past were back at the table. Another family member had almost moved out of state but had decided to stay close to us. I felt very…
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From Darkness to Light: Overcoming Trauma and Grief
We all have roads we are familiar with driving on. There might be a gas station, road sign, or other structure that signifies how far down this road we are. There might be potholes we’re overly familiar with or points where traffic is particularly congested. This is a metaphor for how I feel my emotions,…
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Keeping Christmas Well: A Reflection on Faith and Gratitude
On Sunday, the pastor discussed the importance of keeping Christmas well. This is a line from A Christmas Carol. At the end of the book, they save Scrooge. He was known to know how to keep Christmas and keep it well. The pastor kept referring to A Christmas Carol as the Christmas story and discussed…
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Creating Quiet Retreats Amid Holiday Chaos
Creating a Calm Space During Holiday Chaos: Tips on establishing a designated quiet area where individuals can retreat and recharge during holiday events.
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Understanding Christmas with the Kranks: A Holiday Reflection
One of my favorite, more recent Christmas movie discoveries is Christmas with the Kranks. In this film, married couple Luther and Nora Crank decide to go on a cruise while their only child, their daughter, will be in her gap year with the Peace Corps. They shed their long-held Christmas traditions to save enough money…
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My top ten favorite things about Thanksgiving
These are in no particular order
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Redefining Thanksgiving: Embracing New Traditions
Food and celebration are often inextricably linked. My family typically begins cooking/ baking extravaganza on Thanksgiving. My family frequently hosted Thanksgiving because my parents had enough room and a centrally located home. Almost every year, mounds of mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, turkey, sweet potato casserole, sausage stuffing, and pies would be assembled on the…
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Mindfulness for the Holidays
I’ve heard a saying I agree with, “ Expectations are resentments waiting to happen.” I have often gone into family gatherings, milestones, social gatherings, etc., with specific expectations of what I want to get out of said event. These could revolve around how I expected someone to respond, the emotions I wanted to feel, or…
Living on the Spectrum 