Christmas – Clanmother

T’was the Night Before Christmas

Reading “T’was the Night Before Christmas” year after year, has been a tradition in our family for many years. Clement Clarke Moore’s most famous poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, is also known as “T’was the Night Before Christmas”. The poem was first published anonymously in 1823 and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. The wordsContinue reading “T’was the Night Before Christmas”

Stephen Humphreys Reads A Christmas Carol

December 19, 1843 was the day when Christmas was given a gift that continues to keep on giving. “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens was published in London by Chapman and Hall. To be clear, others had written stories and poems about Christmas, but “A Christmas Carol” was different; for in those marvelous staves, CharlesContinue reading “Stephen Humphreys Reads A Christmas Carol”

I Heard the Bells

“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was acquainted with grief. Longfellow’s first wife, Mary Storer Potter, died after several weeks of illness at the age of 22 on November 29, 1835.Continue reading “I Heard the Bells”

Partners, Choices and Pathways

“I wear the chain I forged in life….I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol Every year at this time, I watch “A Christmas Carol” and consider the relevance of theContinue reading “Partners, Choices and Pathways”

The Three Benchmarks of Christmas

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol Christmas Eve brings together all theContinue reading “The Three Benchmarks of Christmas”