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Longfellow's Christmas
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered by: Edward Herrmann . Program 4135

Sleigh bells and laughter pierced the stillness of softly falling snow, as the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow family, bundled in winter wool, whisked along in their horse-drawn sleigh. The five children giggled with delight.

Then, ringing down snow-packed lanes, across fields, and through the wooded hills and valleys pealed the bells—solo steeple bells and choirs of carillon bells—playing the familiar carols of Christmas. The Longfellow family delighted in their message of joy and peace.

But a few months later, fire ravaged their home. Trying desperately to rescue his wife Fanny, Henry was terribly burned. Three days later, on their 18th anniversary, Fanny was buried - while Henry, confined to bed, fought to live—fought for the will to live.

Two Christmases came and went. Henry wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are the holidays.” “‘A merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.” On Christmas Day, 1864, he wrote:

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

At some time, each of us echoes the question of his broken heart: When pain, grief, and loneliness overwhelm us, where is the music of hope and peace?

For Henry, the answer came at Christmas. As the rising sun burnished the windows of the Longfellow home brilliant gold, pealing through the crisp morning air, came a clear, joyous ringing…Christmas bells.

From his lonely desk, Henry heard them. In that instant, his broken heart was healed. Renewed, he plunged his pen into fresh ink, and joyfully drew it across a sheet of snow white paper…

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Christmas bells still ring out a clear message: Out of suffering and despair, joy can flourish anew, and hope and peace be reborn. Peace on earth. Peace in each broken heart.

And so, as the bells pealed on, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow finished his carol of hope and faith:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
“God is not dead; nor doth He sleep!
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”

This is one of my favorite Christmas stories... I think we can all learn from this story, and know that whatever happens to us, you can always find something good about your situation. Don't just look for the gloom.

Merry Christmas!

Can I tell you how much I enjoy sleeping in?  Too much than could possibly be good for me!  But I still do.  There is no more school for the rest of this year, which makes me unbelievably happy!  I didn't have to get up at six this morning, I got up at 9:30!  I'm guessing it will progressively become later over the coming break, making it even harder to go to school, when it comes.

But, what can you do? I say enjoy it while it lasts!

Handmade Headbands

So, over the weekend, I decided to try out making these (see pictures below)

{The background of this one is on the pillowcase I made}

{This one is on the carpet downstairs}

{This one is on my bedroom carpet}

Any orders?

Christmas Cartoons!!

Merry Christmas! Hope you have a great one!

ELF YOURSELF!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I thought this was pretty sweet... Enjoy!

Once again, I was window shopping...

Some really cute shorts from Old Navy

A really cute shirt

The same really cute shirt in another color

And a totally awesome jacket that is awesome!

A Surprise Birthday "Surprise"

This year for my birthday, my friend, Caitie Ostler got my dad to let her into my room. Little did I know that when I came home that evening, it would be plastered with everything green under the stars. Thanks Caitie, that was sure fun to clean up!

Do you look like a freak tilting your head sideways for this one?

I was pretty embarressed when I found out someone had been in my room with it looking like this...

Gardner Village - The Masses at Halloween

I know this is a little late, but I just found the cord to hook up my camera to my computer, so... These are from our trip to Gardner Village. It was awesomely fun, but insanely packed! I suggest not going on the "Wee Witches Weekend" It's chaos!

The Girls

The good picture of us...

The picture of us with Brady's Hand

I actually got my dad to pose for a picture!

The kids (Excluding Corie)

The Messup

I thought this was pretty sweet!

Could they look anymore hideous?

That is one good-looking witch! :)

THIS one has all the kids

The witch is throwing exlposives in case you couldn't see...

The Parents (of my family)

My family (My mom wouldn't join us...)

Yet another witch

Awesome Shirts!!!

My brother go one of these shirts, I thought they were hilarious, so I posted some of them. They're from shirt.woot.com. If you're bored and have extra time on your hands, you should go check them out!

This is the one my brother got, I hope you can read it!

Self-Explanitory

Twilight!

In about an hour and fifteen minutes, I'll be waiting in line to see Twilight. I don't know how excited I am after the last book... but I did like the first. Hopefully it'll be really good. I'm going with a few of my friends from school, who are so excited that I know they'll be hyperventilating standing in line... :)

When I get back, I'll tell you how it was. Don't worry, I won't post any spoilers! Ha, ha!

What! No More Frosted Animal Cookies!?!?!

Unfortunately, I just found out that Circus Animal Frosted Cookies are being discontinued *sniff sniff* Darn that stupid economy. To the delicious cookies, gone from now on...

Window Shopping (Online of course!)

Is it just me or do these pj's look really comfortable AND cute!?!?

I kinda like this necklace

SLIPPERS!!!

Flip Flops pretty much ROCK!

I saw these gloves online, and I thought they were really cute! I've learned not to look at the prices though, so sorry, I'm no help there!

So, as you can tell, I'm kind of in the mood for window shopping! (Or surf shopping!)

Some Random Pictures From a While Ago...

Oh, special! I wonder if Jonathan knows I have these pictures...

That's Jonathan, trying to be all manly, or something.

Yeah, so what? I look like an idiot. What's new? (The water was cold, okay?)