M(ike)’s paternal grandmother, Ruth, passed away today. Although we are glad that she is finally free from her sick body, we are sad that the we have lost such a caring and genuine person. We were looking forward to visiting her this year when we visit the Thielman clan for Christmas, so we’re a bit heartbroken that we won’t get to see her and her kind smile. We are so grateful that we were able to see her last year when we visited for Thanksgiving. She will be missed by all of us.

Goodbye, Gamma Ruth – Thank you for your love.

I had originally planned to include what you will soon be reading in my Thanksgiving post, but then I remembered A Charlie Brown Christmas and knew that today, an anniversary that is both sad and happy, would be a better day to post it.

For those of you who do not know, I love watching A Charlie Brown Christmas (and the Grinch, too, of course!); it’s one of the highlights of the year for me. I don’t even own a personal copy of it just so that I have an excuse to watch it on television. This little holiday ritual is so important to me that I have only ever missed it once. Can you guess when that was?

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