"I Still Got It!!!"...by Jim Terry

As I sit here writing this blog for Christmas, it just amazes me that another holiday season is here and that another end to a year is once again upon us. I know I have asked this before, but “Where does the time go?” And, as you know, this year has also definitely been one to dismantle, sever and destroy. With the pandemic currently in full strength, mask-wearing, TP shortages, hand sanitizer use, opening and closing of businesses with job losses, this year, I would clearly say, has been placed in the category of “one to remember”…without a doubt! Most might also say that this has been, “A crappy year,” or might even say it’s, “One to forget.” However, in light of everything that has happened this year and claiming myself to be an “eternal optimist,” I have to admit that, “I still got it.”

I’m sure you all may be thinking right now, “Oh no! What glory day story are we about to hear?” But I will save you the agony and head in another direction.

We normally would put our Christmas tree up around Thanksgiving so we, as my Mom used to say, “Could enjoy the Christmas season.” I must say, it was definitely fun to enjoy the tree for a little over a month, but I totally understand now why we completed decorating the tree at that time. With eight kids and an unknown amount of work to still be completed within the next month and in time for the “big day,” I’m sure my Mom and Dad needed every bit of time they had in order to make the magic of Christmas happen without worrying about another thing to do. It was always so dreamlike and surreal how my parents made it happen so beautifully and perfectly each and every year.

To this day, not only do I still put my tree up around the Thanksgiving holiday, but I also like to carry on some of the other family traditions that we used to do that would make the season so picture-perfect…so magical.

The smell of apples and cinnamon was an ever-present aroma in our home during the Christmas season. As a young boy and with my Mom’s kettle on the stove, I always knew that the gentle jingling and jangling of the kettle’s lid created from the simmering of the potpourri contained with the container only meant that the Christmas season was near.

I also remember that there were times when the prominent smell of apples and cinnamon were superimposed with baked goods. Everything from cookies, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, and turkey in the oven somehow enhanced the delight at that time of year.

Funny how other traditions, from a beautifully lit tree, to lights on the exterior of the home, snow quietly falling outside, snowmen in the front yard, “stockings hung by the chimney with care,” a crackling warm fire, Christmas tree festivals, a soothing and comforting cup of hot chocolate or warm cider, leaving a letter for Santa with cookies and milk on Christmas Eve, can all bring such feelings of longing and nostalgia.

Do you remember when you were young and how Christmas Eve and that night made you feel? It’s interesting to me how you’d think that as you age, where I am no longer the “tiny tot” I once was, that it would make it easier to sleep instead of finding it “harder to sleep” on Christmas Eve.

“Why is this?” I had to ask myself.

My role as a receiver and the excitement that was generated as a young boy has now turned into a giver. It’s a new type of enthusiasm and fervor that now keeps me up at night…the anticipation of a phone call from or to family and friends…the experience of watching children on Christmas morn finding out if they were “naughty or nice”...the happiness in simply seeing others receive the gifts you bestow or by simply being with family. Those are now the things that cause the restless night and have become my greatest gifts.

So what did I mean when I said, “I still got it?” you may ask?

It’s definitely not the baseball arm I used to have or the ability to run for miles and barely be winded, but that IT is the one same thing that makes the Christmas season so magical…so memorable…so fun. It’s the same thing that also made Scrooge realize what a miserable old miser he was and what made the Grinch’s heart grow ”three sizes that day”…so when I say, “I got it!” It’s the Christmas Spirit that I still got and will always have! Have you still got it?

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!!!

♦ Hope you'll let us share your stories and photos here at our residence "In a Nutshell." Email us at nutshellstories@gmail.com.  

"The Noblest Art"...by Jim Terry

I have been trying to find some motivation and creativity lately for the next blog.  I sometimes find it very difficult to write about the “mundane” life that I lead and try to make it interesting for you to read, but it was with the help of an older sister that recently helped with some inspiration.  I had noticed from her postings on Facebook that almost every other day was about a movie that she recently had seen that had apparently touched her emotionally and spiritually and moved her to blog about it...five times now! She also had to go to the theatre and see it there five times and had to buy it on blu ray as soon as it came out. Isn't that right Angie? 😉 This movie is one you may have seen, stars Hugh Jackman as the lead and portrays the life of P.T. Barnum who was "The Greatest Showman."

I find it hard to get to the theatre after work and with all the hours I work in a day and during the week, I would probably just fall asleep anyhow.  So I knew once the movie was available to stream or purchase that I would definitely have to watch it to see what my sister’s excitement was about.  I have to admit that I love to watch Broadway theatre productions in person but when a musical is made into a movie or a musical production begins as a movie, I generally am not as interested in watching it. 

While watching this movie and experiencing the music and the emotions of the story, I could see why my softhearted and compassionate sister would enjoy this so much. It’s a story about perseverance, family, love, successes, and failures.  Sounds like life right?  Sounds like my life.

It is the month of May and I always have to take a moment in my life to think about and mention “mothers,” but especially think of and mention my Mom.  It has literally been five years ago this month, that my mother began this blog to start her journey of hope and perseverance to continue her love of being a columnist.  Over the six months that she wrote for her blog and before her passing, she found great success. We ended up having readers in over forty countries worldwide and had an average readership of over a thousand people per post.

This blog was a medium or pathway for her to share her thoughts on life and a genuine way for us all to learn more about her. Just like all artists do, whether you are a painter, a musician or an author, each picture, each lyric to a song or each novel generally reveals a secret part of that person that created their masterpiece. I feel so fortunate to know about parts of her life in ways I could never have without her descriptive nature and talent for writing. We all have been whisked away down to the nearby ditch (canal) where “The Water Woman” lived. We learned of where her talent for writing began with her blog “Favorite Teachers.”  We also have all experienced her heart and simplistic kindness throughout her writing career, but especially with recalled experiences like “I love you too.” And last but not least, we all learned of her love of Star Trek with several occurrences, but none so much as in “It’s The Crew.”

After my Mom’s passing and with human nature being as it is, you always want to hold on to and cherish everything that reminds you of them. This blog was no different for me and for the family members that helped contribute writings to her blog. We simply wanted to continue her blog for her and continue what my mother set out to do. The goal?...to bring happiness to those who read and also whisk you away into places and adventures that you may not experience otherwise.   During this time, we, my family and myself, also found out how very difficult it is to write and articulate yourself correctly in order just to portray a simple situation or experience and in a way you want the reader to experience it.  As I referred to my mother earlier, she was a true professional, an “artist,” with her ability to do this so easily and effortlessly.

Well with it now being one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days now since this blog started, and being the “last man standing” in contributing to this blog for several months now, I have decided to put this blog into semi-retirement. It has been a painful decision to do and has been months in the making because you always feel like you might be letting something go that you don’t necessarily want to but have to. 

What does this mean to you as the reader? We are going to continue to post quarterly and on special holidays but the monthly blog will be vacated.  Posting quarterly will also keep the website active and allow you to see all future posts but still preserve all of the past entries that have been written...especially those that were created and written by the woman who started this all, my mother!

So in going back to the movie and my sister that helped inspire today’s writing, I wanted to mention a couple of more things from The Greatest Showman.  First is the moment in the movie where P.T. Barnum takes a chance on promoting an opera singer that he has never heard perform and is blown away and rewarded by her talent once he is able to hear her sing a song entitled, “Never Enough.” (P.S. “Thank You,” Loren Allred for your amazing talent to move us all with this beautiful song). 

In the song and if you listen to the lyrics, they really mimic how I feel in my heart about certain circumstances in my life. This is the same feeling I am experiencing now by putting the blog into semi-retirement. It is because of you, that my Mom was able to achieve and continue her dream of being a writer at that time in her life when she needed it the most.

“ I’m trying to hold my breath, let it stay this way. Can’t let this moment end…Will never be enough…never, never…FOR ME.” So, "THANK YOU to you...the readers!" 

Secondly, at the end of the movie, they end it with a quote from P.T. Barnum. The quote was something that I know my mother also wanted to accomplish with her writings. When I look at all the comments, the emails, the letters received and the continued support you have given to my mother and our family over the years, I can clearly say to my mother in heaven ten times over, "Mom your mission is accomplished." 

Oh, and the quote that we should all strive to live by and the goal aspired to and realized by my mother in starting this blog...

“The noblest art is that of making others happy.” –P.T. Barnum 


♦ Hope you'll let us share your stories and photos here at our residence "In a Nutshell." Email us at nutshellstories@gmail.com.