Tag: holidays

Tips for Getting Through the Holidays During Breast Cancer

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I have written about this topic before but each year I seem to learn something new. I hear from other people about being diagnosed or having surgery toward the end of the year. This can throw an extra wrench into holiday plans since so many people celebrate a number of different holidays in December. I learn from them and share my tips for getting through the holidays during breast cancer. My Tips for Managing your Phone Time This Thanksgiving, I gave myself a gift. I called family and close friends in the days leading up to Thanksgiving and told them I was turning my phone off the entire day of Thanksgiving beginning at bedtime the night before. I did not turn it back on until the morning after. They had the ability to get a hold of me in an emergency. I wanted to make sure of that. It was Continue Reading →

How Are you Feeling Toward the End of The Year?

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Are you feeling anxious? Peaceful? Introspective? Determined to roll into the New Year with some novel ideas and changes in your life? It is the time of year when we can feel any, and all of these emotions and they can change within a moment, a day, or a week because of an unexpected circumstance. As we roll into the month of December, it is time to ask, how are you feeling toward the end of the year? End of the Year Holiday Celebrations There are holiday celebrations in December like Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, and similar celebrations around the world. I recall the excitement of children in my classroom during my years as an ESL teacher honoring each of these holidays. Students loved learning and experiencing the difference and similarities in all of the holidays. This was during a time when families were allowed and felt comfortable bringing Continue Reading →

The Story of the Kindness Tree

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Holiday lights are glowing across neighborhoods and cities across the world. Parties, celebrations, friends and family gather as another year ends. On a damp, cool, morning the doorbell rang unexpectedly in the middle of the day. My husband was off work, so he beat me to the front door although I was close behind him. When we opened the door, there stood our neighbor with a long cardboard box. We knew exactly what it was. This is the story of the kindness tree. When we First Saw the Tree A couple of weeks prior to our neighbor bringing this long cardboard box, we were out for a walk. This time of the year where we live, the days are short, often blanketed by fog in the early morning with light mist during the day. I told my husband to look at the tree on our neighbor’s front porch as we Continue Reading →