24 days until Christmas! Would you believe it? I can’t. Seems like yesterday it was New Year’s Eve 1999 and we were all waiting for the lights to go off! Ha! We knew they wouldn’t. But it was kind of fun to yak about while the computer geeks all rushed to change year fields from 2 digits to 4.

As I put up the Christmas tree, I remember family traditions. Each ornament has a special meaning. The ones my mother embroidered and made of plastic canvas are especially dear to me. And to hand the stockings! I love to hand the stockings decorated with cross stitch. I can’t wait to let my grand-daughter pick out a pattern for her first Christmas stocking. I can teach her to cross stitch, and she will have a lot of time to work on it during the cold days in January and February when she can’t go outside to play.

Traditions – and handing down what we know. Isn’t that what life is all about?

Are there any other crafters out there? Or stitchers? I love to do counted cross stitch. It is like painting a picture. When my niece graduated from high school, I sent her a set of two pretty flower designs in the hoop type frame. I put love in each stitch. I hadn’t seen or talked to her since she was 5 (her mother and I were on the outs). That summer I drove my children (just in their teens) back home to show them where I grew up. I visited with my former sister-in-law who then invited me to her home. She showed me my niece’s room – and in the midst of all black and white decor was the colorful flowers. Apparently she did not like colors and had surounded herself in black and white. When she received my gift, she put them right up on the wall. And from then on she let colors gradually come back into her life.

We never know what one little thing will make the difference in someone’s life. I say, don’t say it with flowers and cards, say it with a gift you make especially for them – with love in every stitch.