Dearest Rachel – One of the holiday traditions that we’ve dispensed with now that you’re gone is that of hitting the stores for their Black Friday deals. You would go through the newspaper and the various mailings after Thanksgiving dinner, trying to ascertain if any of their offerings would meet the needs of the ChristmasContinue reading “We Don’t Do Black Friday Anymore”
Tag Archives: traditions
The Rules of Recab
Dearest Rachel – There’s an obscure story in the middle of the book of Jeremiah, in chapter 35, where the prophet is instructed to invite members of a certain family, descendants of a man named Recab, to eat with him at the Temple. Now, it so happens that this family had a number of traditions,Continue reading “The Rules of Recab”
I Just Can’t Even “Imagine”
Dearest Rachel – I’m pretty sure that, once upon a New Year’s Rockin’ Eve of yore, when we actually watched those sorts of things live on the television rather than on some stream across the internet, you and I saw, just before the ball began its minute-long decent to the roof of the Flatiron Building,Continue reading “I Just Can’t Even “Imagine””
A Bit of a Mess
Dearest Rachel – So, yesterday we went out on walkabout before our tour; today that’s definitely not going to be possible today, as our tour starts almost as soon as we’re docked and cleared to get off the ship. We will, however, have a good four or five hours before the ship leaves, in orderContinue reading “A Bit of a Mess”
Bargain-Hunting Blues
Dearest Rachel – Back in the day, on the years when we were downstate visiting your folks over Christmas, we would generally make a habit of driving those five minutes or so to the edge of town, where the big box stores were located, in order to go shopping for after-Christmas bargains the day afterContinue reading “Bargain-Hunting Blues”
M’aidez
Dearest Rachel – I’ve been told that the distress code “mayday” comes from an anglicization of the French expression “m’aidez,” literally “help me.” Well, once again, May Day is upon us, and I could use some help. You see, while some events – like the balloon that wound up on the driveway on my birthdayContinue reading “M’aidez”
Traditions No More
Dearest Rachel – I honestly thought I could do it. I thought I could just get through the details and activities of the Thanksgiving holiday without being ambushed by your loss. I kept myself so busy, between the work in the booth for the Thanksgiving Eve service the night before, and the preparations for theContinue reading “Traditions No More”
Letters to Rachel 