CHRISTMAS Thoughts from Gwynne Forster

I love Christmas. I enjoy receiving presents, and I love to give them. I’ve had poor Christmases and wealthy ones. The poor ones, to my mind at least, were poor because of the absence of a family member or of someone else who had carved out a special place in my life. I cherish memories of childhood Christmases on which I was surrounded by my close relatives—family, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins–and enjoyed with them a wonderful dinner, the menus of which I have long forgotten, and which my mother cooked.

As I look back, it seemed that the younger I was, the more glorious and glittering Christmas seemed. I think I was about 11 when my maternal uncle gave my two siblings and me a Mickey Mouse jazz band, the members of which danced as they played their instruments. Neighboring children always came to play with our toys, for my brother, my sister and I always received a large number of toys. On this occasion, one of the neighboring children deliberately wrecked that wonderful band and ended that Christmas for me.

I had discovered for myself the year before that Santa Claus and my parents were one and the same, and that had not set well with me. After the incident with the Mickey Mouse Band, I completely lost interest in toys. But I loved the joyous spirit that always prevailed on and around Christmas. As I matured, its true meaning became important to me, and I now see it not only as a time for gift giving, merriment and dining with family and friends, but also a time for spiritual renewal and appreciation of the remarkable birth and life of Jesus.

I love to sing and I enjoy Christmas music, especially choral music, and other seasonal traditions both humble and noble. If I can get an opportunity to brighten and enrich the life of another person at Christmas, that gives me immeasurable joy. There is usually a mound of wrapped presents beneath our Christmas tree these years. But even as I enjoy unwrapping them and seeing delight on the faces of my family, I think back to the days when my siblings and I were attending universities, and our family couldn’t waste money on ribbon and wrapping paper. We didn’t have turkey, but capon. “So what,” my brother said one Christmas. “It’s still a big bird filled with bread.” We had a wonderful laugh about it, told tall tales about Christmases past, and enjoyed that one more than some that were blessed with riches. I miss my parents and siblings, and especially at Christmas.

I spent my favorite Christmas in a European country in which I knew about two dozen words of the language, but love overcomes such barriers. Indeed, after having later experienced Christmas in some, developing countries, where the day was not for merrymaking and gift giving but for eking out a living as usual, and where a gesture of kindness truly warmed the recipient’s heart, I have moved closer to the spirit of Christmas, and to the edict that it is better to give than to receive. I believe this is especially true at Christmas when we celebrate the greatest gift of all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gwynne Forster is a national best selling author of 40 works of fiction, including her latest mainstream novel, A CHANGE HAD TO COME.  Gwynne is author of 33 romance novels and novellas, of which the latest title is Holiday Kisses. She has won numerous awards for fiction writing, including the Romantic Times 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, the Romance In Color Author of the Year award, the Gold Pen Award and has been inducted in the Affaire de Coeur Hall of Fame. A demographer by profession, she is formerly a senior United Nations Officer, Population Division, United Nations, New York, where she was chief officer in charge of Research in Fertility and Family Planning studies. Gwynne is author of  27 publications in demography.  She holds bachelors and masters degrees in sociology and a master’s degree in economics/demography. As an officer, first for United Nations and later for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, London, England, Gwynne traveled and/or worked in  63 ountries. Gwynne loves to read and listen to music, especially jazz, classical music, opera and blues. She also loves to dance and enjoys entertaining at small dinner parties. She lives in New York with her husband, who is her true soul mate.

Holiday Kisses Book Description

Kisha Moran knows next to nothing about Craig Jackson–which seems to be just the way he likes it. The TV-news anchor arrived at Kisha’s dental practice for emergency treatment and ever since, she’s been unable to get him out of her mind. Her body’s reaction to him is undeniable, and their first incredible night together tells her it’s mutual. But getting this sexy, enigmatic man to open up would take a Christmas miracle…and Kisha isn’t waiting for one of those.

Craig has no time for the string of women who’ll do anything to get close to a celebrity. Maybe Kisha’s different, maybe not. But suddenly, brushing her off isn’t a problem–because feisty Kisha has gone ice-cold on him. And with the holidays approaching, Craig realizes that the only gift he wants is another chance to show her the man behind the mystery….

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