A Christmas Story

This true Christmas story was told by Russel Schuettpelz. It was recorded and distributed by his wife Lorraine, published in Guidepost, and recently forwarded to me by my son, Sandy Jr.                We were over the English channel on Christmas Eve, 1944, and our plane was beginning its descent through a heavy fog, […]

The Music of Christmas

Yesterday, December 20th. I attended a Christmas musical concert at my church.  It was beautiful, and I loved every moment of it.  My thanks go out to those who put the concert together and to the performers. I am particularly grateful to Ira Poberezhnaya, our director of music. She is a true artist. I also […]

The Christmas Tree

George Washington did not have a Christmas tree.  Neither did Scrooge or Tiny Tim.  The Christmas tree tradition developed in the Protestant areas of the Baltic states and northern Germany and gradually migrated from there to England and America in the late 19th century.  The Catholics resisted it at first, thinking it somewhat pagan, but […]

Anniversary

Sixty-nine years ago, on December 16, 1951, my wife Ann and I exchanged our wedding vows,  Except for my two-year stint in the U,S. Army, we were together for the next sixty-three years. I believe that we were truly blessed to love and be loved.  We were always assured of each other’s faithfulness and commitment, […]

They Stole It Fair and Square

On December 14th the electoral college cast its ballots for Joseph Biden as the next President of the United States.  Trump’s lawyers continue to fight the decision in state courts and legislatures, but I believe their prospects of success are about equal to the chance of a snowball surviving in the nethermost regions of Hades. […]

Scrooge

One of my favorite movies of Christmas time, indeed, of all time, is Scrooge with Albert Finney   It is not only a visual and musical feast, it is a tale of a man’s life gone wrong followed by an amazing redemption. The story plays your emotions like a violin.  You move from a sweet romance, […]

Christmas Blessings

These are thoughts that I have expressed before, but just like saying “Merry Christmas”, it does no harm to repeat. I am a happy ending guy.  Every Christmas I trot out some old favorite movies and see them again.  My beloved wife and I watched them together scores of times, and now I share them […]

Christmas at Tanya Court

I am bringing up some photos of times past for my family.  I hope that others may also enjoy. A house on Tanya Court in Ellicott City, Maryland, was our home from January 1986 until January 2003.  I have many happy memories of that place – especially remembrances and images of Christmastime. Outside Decorations at […]

Thank You, Lord

It is a season for love and thanksgiving.  I have much to be thankful for. Above is a photograph of my brother Robert’s children taken around 1941.  What a grand, sweet family.  The entire crew radiated goodness, and I loved them so very much.  The little boy in this picture is the only one still […]

The Eleventh Commandment

The Eleventh Commandment was a phrase used by Ronald Reagan during his 1966 campaign for Governor of California. The commandment reads: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.  As governor and as President, Reagan generally followed that commandment.  I respected him for it. President Trump has thrown that rule of political conduct out […]