A Letter from Danielle for December ‘19
Hi Everyone,
My favorite month is finally here: December. I love the holidays, although they’re not always easy. They sometimes highlight what’s been right and wrong with the year, and they can be challenging for many people. But I’ve always loved the magic of Christmas, it brings the child out in me. My children and I used to bake brownies for friends, and it was always fun doing it. We celebrate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and it brings all my children home for the holidays, which is what I love best about them. We start the evening with a carol service on December 24th, have dinner together, and open most of our presents on Christmas Day. I love everything that leads up to it: Christmas shopping, decorating the tree, wrapping gifts, seeing friends. We used to give ice-skating parties for my children and all their friends—but now everyone has grown up!!
When I was a child, it was the best part of the year, and I still feel the same way about it. There is always the nostalgia of the people we love no longer there to share it with us—balanced by the joy of those who are there. It can be a stressful time of year, with too much to do, and so much to get done—and then suddenly it’s here. And for those who have no family to be with, or no close friends—maybe having just moved to a new town, or experienced changes in their lives—it’s nice to remember them, reach out and include them, and to do something to help those in desperate need during the holiday season. It’s a time for giving, sharing, and loving, in whatever form works for you.
My new hardcover Spy came out right before the start of December. It’s about a female British spy and her exciting missions behind enemy lines during the war—and in exotic cities all over the world in the years after the war. I always try to pick a book for Christmas that will make a wonderful gift to give. And my new paperback will be out on December 3rd: Silent Night, about how a tragedy brings an unmarried aunt and her eleven-year-old niece together, to bring a blessing to them both.
I hope that these holidays will be peaceful, easy, fun, and happy for you, and I hope that we all find ways to make them better for others, to share joy and a feeling of well-being with all of those around us. I hope that the holidays will be full of joy and blessings for you and those you hold dear!!
Happy Holidays!!!
Love,
Danielle