Christmas in May

Easter, or more correctly, Resurrection Day; the most important celebration day of the year for Christians, has come and gone.  The week or so before it saw a flurry of activity at the shop - from both "The Old Man in the Bib Overalls" and customers. Now that it is over and the dust has cleared, we move on to the next celebration, "Christmas in May".  This comes the first week in May.

As Laura wrote in "The Long Winter", the Ingalls family celebrated Christmas the first week in May when the trains started running again.  Here, in Mansfield, the trains are never stopped for the winter.  And, for that matter, nothing that is stocked in Laura's "Sweet Memories" comes off any of the trains.  But we celebrate in the shop, like the Ingalls family, to keep the legacy of Laura alive.

So, "The Old Man in the Bib Overalls" will be busy decorating the shop with Christmas decorations.  Christmas candies are available year around in the shop, so I will make sure the stock is up on those.  Last year the shop opened in May and it wasn't quite the time to have Christmas and a grand opening.  The celebration last year came in July.  Some folks thought the old man had lost it!  But, the Laura fans understood that Christmas was a special time for Laura.  She wrote about it in almost all her books.   Christmas was more than just the celebration of the birth of Jesus; it was a time when each family member showed their love for the others by making something special for them.  When they had funds they would buy something special, but usually they didn't have any extra money to do that.  And when they had the opportunity to share Christmas with friends, like the Boasts, they scraped together what they could to make everyone happy.

Our times, with the economic recession going on, are not as bad as the times experienced by the Ingalls family.  Comparatively, we have it pretty good!  But, how often do we throw a "Pity Party" for ourselves; and forget the blessings that we have all around us?  In this day and age most of us don't have to walk miles to get to a store or to school.  Most of us don't have to live on bread and milk alone, as they did.  And most of us don't walk around with holes in our shoes.

On the other side of that coin we find blessings that the Ingallses had that we seldom find in the 21st Century family - the great bond of love for one another.  It seems that the hustle and bustle of everyday life has taken up that time which had been set aside to appreciate "Family and Friends".  When is the last time you sat down to dinner with your family, let alone made something for each of them?

The time we spend doing for others is time well spent!

When is the last time you told a family member or a friend how much you cared for them?  And then, did you just say it, or did you show it? If you lost every thing that you owned would you still have something to show for your life?

At the beginning of April this year my Daffodils came out - nearly 300 of them!  But about three weeks later a hard spring rain came and destroyed the blossoms.  I had wanted to take some pictures of them to share before they died off, but I was too late.  Isn't life much the same?  One day we are enjoying our family and friends and the next day, they are gone all too soon.  We waste too much time on foolish endeavors and not enough time on those we love.  That is one of the reasons I have my shop - to share with others.  A trip to visit Rocky Ridge Farm makes a great experience to share with your family or friends.  And then to top it off, it is good to visit Laura's "Sweet Memories" and take home some of those memories in a bag.  I hope you'll be able to do that soon - it would be nice to see you!  You can find out more about my shop's location and business hours on the web site http://www.laurassweetmemories.com/ .

As I get older I find that memories are comforting - even those which aren't happy ones.  But I do prefer the happy ones!  I only wish I had made better choices and made more happy memories while I was young.  But it's not too late for you!

"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime."  Laura Ingalls Wilder