My children have a very special box of
books that they bring up from the basement the weekend after Thanksgiving and read
from until New Year’s. Some of the books,
like Winnie the Pooh’s Christmas, are
“baby” books, which even the seventeen-year-old still loves to read because it
brings back memories from earlier childhood.
A few, such as Christmas Day in
the Morning, are specially chosen to read on certain days of Advent to
remind us as a family of what’s truly important in life. Others like the Snow Angel are fantastical, fun books which delight our
imaginations and entertain us on those wintry nights of December. Each of my
children have chosen these books, adding them to our growing collection.
The authors and illustrators of every
book in that box are dear to me as a parent because their works have increased
the enjoyment of the holiday season for my family. They’ve helped us to think in ways we might
not have if it weren’t for their stories.
They’ve made us laugh on days when we were least inclined to. They’ve
given us something to do as a family every evening of the holiday season,
despite extremely busy schedules. And
they’ve united our family from the nine-year-old to the forty-two-year-old
around a common bond we all hold dear – reading.
As writers we can sometimes wonder if
what we’re doing is worth it. We might write
for local newspapers and wonder if anyone even cares about what’s in the
articles we write. We may have written
novels which we think are good, but they continue to receive publisher
rejections. Maybe we haven’t won any writing
contests in a while. Or we’ve written
stories for our children or grandchildren which they don’t seem to appreciate. My New Year’s encouragement for 2014 to all
writers, whether you write for yourself only or for others, is to keep
writing. Somewhere, someplace, at some
time, there will be someone who needs to read what you’ve written. Trust that your writing is definitely worth
it.
Paula Castner
Paula Castner
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