The other day, I was putting Eliana (my three-year-old granddaughter) down for a nap. She asked, “Pappy, what is your favorite color?” I responded, “Ellie, I like purple.” She quickly responded, “You can’t like purple. That can’t be your favorite color.” “Well, why not Ellie?” I asked, “Why can’t I like purple?” “Purple is a girl’s color. Only girls can like pink and purple,” she said.

As we stand on our tippy toes ready to open that “brand spanking new” New Year, I can’t help but wonder what is in store for us this year? Do we eagerly step into 2017 with excitement and enthusiasm, or do we cautiously step into the New Year with fear and trepidation?

As I journey through Advent to Christmas, checking off each item on my list, I am very much aware that the idea of doing something with Christmas is what keeps us from understanding what Christmas is all about. After all, Christmas is not something we do. Christmas is something done to us, for us, and in us.

A few months ago, before the start of the new school, there was a great commercial for school supplies featuring happy, dancing parents and pitifully sad children. That familiar Christmas song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” played in the background. I couldn’t help but laugh when this commercial came on at the sheer joy of the parents and deep sadness for the children that it was back to school time.

Nancy was recently contacted by a stranger who is helping one of Nancy's distant relatives work on this relative's family tree.