A Holiday Letter of Cheer

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Oh my, what a year! Right?! From insurrection to vaccination, Americans have experienced every emotion between hell and heaven in 2021, and will mostly be glad to see the back of it. Crawling out of the political fray, the misinformation war, and the day to day grind, still we are grateful for much that came our way this year. Here, in this transient moment, tiny sparks seem worth celebrating in our home and blowing up straight into yours. After all, this is the season of light and hope; so with the best of intentions, I want to offer one cheer for our one small world, spinning in the darkness, peopled with you and me and the rest of our loves, expressed with paint on wood to say through love that yes, yes indeed, we will do more than survive, indeed, we can live on to celebrate the great gifts of the past 12 months. Art allows for all that complexity.

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Dear President Joseph Biden,

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Dear President Joseph Robinette Biden,

I hope you are well, and ready to celebrate the upcoming holidays with reverence and joy. Lord knows, you have earned a few family days, in fact, I hope you have several moments when you are not worried about all of us. I am looking forward to a few days like that myself. You see, I’m a high school teacher of English, and I know for sure you understand what that entails, in terms of never being too far removed from your work life. My wish for the both of us is to step away for a minute and rejoice in the wonders of the season.

So, why am I writing you? Well, that’s a simple one to answer. I just want to say thank you. I get the feeling you might not hear those two words enough from people. I must admit, they carry great weight; I know this firsthand. Most days I stand at my classroom door as my high schoolers exit, and we exchange niceties as they move on to their next class, like thank you, or have a great day, or for those headed to play in a basketball game or participate in a musical or theatrical or dance rehearsal, granting a best wishes, best of luck, or some such salutation. At the end of my day, I am the one made richer by all the recognition and gratitude I hear back. But perhaps you don’t get such gracious greetings with such ease. So, thank you, for all you do.

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Month of Writing

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Thank you to all who granted me support through this crazy and fabulous month of writing. I must say I’ve been haunted by these characters for quite some time, like a nagging but delicious preoccupation. I found them ready on day one to tell me all. But I had to coax their motives and secrets with patience. I am proud of the whole crew, they showed up like most of my characters, in tatters, stubbornly rooted in their respective pain. In the end, wow, in the end, they made me weep in a joyous relief for each of them. 

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