Happy December!
We hope you enjoyed the November 2021 issue of This Awful Awesome Life.
Special thanks to Lilly Kauffman and Orlando Bartro for their contributions.
I want to thank Tracey Lewis and Dylan Weiss for allowing us to feature them in the return of our Q&As.
It’s the holiday season and for many what should be a time of joy will be tinged with sadness... the empty place at the table or the phone call/video chat that didn’t happen.
It’s been another hard year with the pandemic. I recently received my booster and I encourage everyone to get the vaccine, continue to wear masks in public, and practice social distancing. We need to focus our fight against the virus not against the only safeguards available to prevent or contain it. Please get vaccinated. Please get your booster. Please wear a mask in public and avoid large gatherings. There are immune-compromised people out there and children too young to receive the vaccine who are counting on all of us to keep them safe. I don’t care if you think you are invulnerable, they are not and they deserve to be protected.
This issue is coming out a few days early because I am headed to Florida for my mom’s funeral. She will be laid to rest in Sarasota National Cemetery beside her husband, William. Ava will be remembered for her beautiful smile and her caring spirit.
This issue has a holiday focus. Linda Cahill has recipes from Pampered Chef to make entertaining and your holiday meal easy and delicious. Lilly Kauffman talks about the healing power of homemade soup and Split Pea Soup with a ham sandwich is our final soup in “The Twelve Months of Soup.”
We’re featuring holiday foods from around the world and a look at the Nationality Room at the University of Pittsburgh. Holiday letters – yes, or no? Did your kids write letters to Santa? Did Santa write back? J.R.R. Tolkien wrote letters to his children from Father Christmas for over 20 years. These letter, complete with illustrations, are a delight. Speaking of letters, do you write/receive holiday newsletters? If so, we have a few dos and don’ts to keep you on track. We also tackle regifting and holiday streaming.
Orlando Bartro discusses writer’s block, a common condition for those of us who spend our days in front of a keyboard.
In honor of Crossword Puzzle month, I made a December crossword puzzle for this issue. Print it out and give it a try. Crosswords are extremely difficult to format in the page space we have and for this reason, I didn’t use a template. Numbering spaces is tricky, so you will have to follow our guide, but that makes completing this crossword more challenging. Can you solve it?
December 21 is Short Story Day. I reviewed an anthology of short stories and several of our reading recommendations are short story collections.
Don’t forget to check out our Author Page for your next great read and JoAnn Cantrell is still searching for pictures and information about Pittsburgh orphans and orphanages.
Samantha Sayers has been missing since she disappeared on August 1, 2018, after a day of solo hiking at Vesper Peak near Seattle, Washington. Sam grew up in the Erie, Pennsylvania area where her parents Ron and Lisa still live. Her family is exploring all avenues of inquiry to find and bring her home. In the face of such an enormous challenge, they have chosen hope. Please keep sending positive thoughts to Sam and her family. As promised, we will be displaying a yellow ribbon for Sam on the opening page of each issue of This Awful Awesome Life until she is home.
If you are a person of faith, please pray for her safe return to her family. Because we are an online publication, we can update this article with any news. We will also post information on our Facebook page. Thank you!
Please share our link, thisawfulawesomelife.com with your friends and family.
Be sure to subscribe to our free mailing list and each new issue of This Awful Awesome Life will be delivered directly to your inbox with a personal note from me. We fixed the glitches we were having on our mailing list, so you will receive the link for the new issue the same day it publishes. We won’t share your name or email address. Like us on Facebook for the latest from This Awful Awesome Life!
Happy Reading,
Fran