A Letter from Danielle for December ’25
Hello Everyone,
I say it every year, but the year has gone by with lightning speed, and in the blink of an eye since last year, it is suddenly December again. When my children were younger, September was my busiest month, getting nine children ready for school (no small feat while they played tricks on me, switching uniforms or shoes among themselves, and suddenly the uniforms were too big or too small and the shoes didn’t fit. They thought it was a hilarious game, in retrospect, I think so too. At the time, I was panicked why none of the uniforms or shoes fitted the day before school started!).
After September, December is by far the busiest month, and even more so now, trying to corral eight adults, their spouses or significant others, amid jobs, plans, their in-laws, and obligations, to get all of us together for the holidays first for Thanksgiving, and then for Christmas. I love it when they are home for the holidays, and I love all our traditions: the Christmas trees, we bake brownies, and we play a silly game at Christmas Eve dinner, which involves picking anonymous gifts and stealing them from each other amid squeals of delight, and the gifts are funny.
Like all families, we have our serious moments, the challenges we faced during the year, the losses, the pains, the disappointments. Their father and my son Nick are no longer with us. We face the same tensions as other people, the victories, the challenges. It gives me great comfort to be with my children on the holidays. We try to remember those who are alone and reach out to them personally, or through our foundation that helps the mentally ill. It is a very hard time for some people. And I am grateful for the blessings of the year, the difficult situations that have resolved peacefully. We all need to remember the lonely, sad, solitary, and forgotten, and the people who are alone, and reach out to them when we have the opportunity to do so.
My new book The Color of Hope came out in hardcover at the end of November, and it is a singularly appropriate book for the holidays about people with difficult lives, unhappy situations, facing hard times or recovering from them. The book is about a woman who has been left by her husband, lost a job she loved, lost a marriage, and she goes to a little French town and stays for a while. She meets wonderful people, makes new friends, and has a shot at a wonderful future if she is brave enough to reach for it and accept it. The village is distinctive because all the shutters in the town are painted a special color blue that is exclusive to them, and she even starts a community art project that embraces everyone in the town. From loss and despair to hope and joy is the heart of the book. It’s the one thing we need to cling to, and embody for those around us. Through whatever darkness we are living through, we must hold tight to each other and never forget the magic of The Color of Hope.
May your holidays be filled with blessings for you and those you love, the blessings you give and the blessings you receive. May they be abundant!
(And Far From Home will be out on December 30, an exciting World War II story about a half-French, half-German woman who must flee when her husband is killed by the Nazis. She goes into hiding in plain sight in France and takes on another identity. So if you’re planning to spend a quiet New Year’s Eve at home, you can curl up with the book, and if you’re out dancing on New Year’s Eve, you can read it the next day!)
All my love,
Danielle