Thursday, December 01, 2011

Remembering Christmas

Today I am happy to kick off my Christmas Box Surprise with Dan Walsh and his book, Remembering Christmas. His is one of the five books I’ll be featuring between now and December 17. On December 17 I will draw a name from all who have left comments for each author. That means you can have up to five entries for the drawing. You also get an extra entry if you invite friends and they mention you name in their comment.


Remembering Christmas is another wonderful Christmas book by Dan Walsh. The book begins with Rick Denton noticing all the changes that have taken place in his hometown since he lived there. That sets him to remembering the time he hadn’t planned on spending the Thanksgiving holiday in the hospital with his mother and step-father, but that’s what he did. Art’s stroke sets off a chain of events that forever changed Rick’s life. The memories are set in a quaint book shop in 1980, and the story will charm you right off your feet. Rick must run the store while Art is in the hospital, and meets a number of characters who will warm your heart, tickle your funny bone, and open your heart to those who have less than we do at the Holiday season. His part-time helper, Andrea and her daughter Amy also open his eyes to what the store really means to the community as well as to love. In giving up his hectic schedule to help his mother, Rick discovers the true meaning of Christmas and what it means to give one’s self to others, and what it means to love with all his heart. This is somewhat of a “framework” story as the first chapter and the ending are set in the present to wrap around the story filled with memories of that unforgettable holiday.

Here's more about Dan.

I met Dan at an ACFW conference in 2009 in Indianapolis. I took an instant liking to him, and after reading his biography, I understood why. Two interesting facts I learned about Dan. One is that he was born the year I graduated from college, so I’m old enough to be his mother. The second fact is that his dad was the first one on either side of the family to attend college and I was the first one in my family to attend college

Dan was born in 1957 to a hard-working, blue-collar family. Dan spent his childhood years playing basket ball and surfing in Florida where he grew up. His father became an engineer with General Electric on the Apollo space program. It wasn’t until his senior year in high school that Dan came to know the Lord. That same year he met his wife, Cindi. Then later Dan became an ordained minister and pastured the same church for 25 years. Their two children are now grown and on their own. Dan retired from the ministry in August and is devoting his time to his writing career.

Check out his website www.danwalshbooks.com for more information about his books and his latest project.



What is your favorite holiday memory? Be sure to include your e-mail address with your comment so I can contact you if you win.

23 comments:

Vickie McDonough said...

I won't say this was one of my favorite memories, but it's one that stands out the most. I was living in a tiny house with a friend. We'd decorated our tree with some silky blue and gold bulbs that my parents gave me. Super cold weather hit, so we left our two puppies locked in the bathroom while we went to work.

Big mistake. Those rascals escaped and make havoc of our Christmas tree. When I got home from work, the tree had fallen over. Bulbs and lights were broken, but worst of all, those silky bulbs had been shredded and fine blue and gold angle hair covered our furniture and carpets. Stunned is the only word that describes it. And bad dogs!! Most disappointing of all was that we didn't have money to replace the broken tree and ornaments. But, God is faithful, and my parents surprised us with a new tree and decorations.

fictionfan1 [at] cox [dot] net

Susan Hollaway said...

I think my favorite holiday memory is my daughter's first Christmas. At 5 1/2 weeks old, she became ill and almost died. But the Lord gave us a miracle and He healed her. We were able to bring her home from the hospital right before Christmas. So that Christmas will always be extra special to me.

I enjoyed reading about Dan and his book. That's cool about the similarities in your lives, Martha.

I very briefly met him at this year's ACFW conference in the book store and he's very nice.

His book sounds like a wonderful story. Thanks for featuring it.

shollaway2008 at gmail dot com

Linda said...

My favorite Christmas would be the year my aunt and uncle (my mom's brother) came over and my aunt taught my mom and I how to make Christmas candy. It was a chocolatey mess, but they sure tasted good!

I was expecting you and Dan to have the same birthday. But the college accomplishments are fantastic!

desertrose5173 at gmail dot com

misskallie2000 said...

I have many memories but one is the first Christmas with my son. I had a beautiful daughter and wanted a brother for her and a son for me. He was born Dec. 1st so I was very happy and our first Christmas together was terrific.
I read Dan's book and recommend it to everyone to read. It was a wonderful story.

misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

Martha A. said...

My favorite christmas memory is the year we all got the flu. I know, it sounds like a strange one, but it was seriously one of the nicest Christmases. We all spent time together watching movies and reading aloud! It was so nice!
martha(at)lclink(dot)com

Jo said...

My very favorite Christmas memory was Christmas, 1985. We had just accepted the L-rd and it made the holiday season so much more special to us. It gave us such meaning.

Blessings,
Jo
ladijo40(at)aol(dot)com

Lena Nelson Dooley said...

I have loved teaching each of the granddaughters how to make some of the Christmas goodies we all love.

By the way, I'm reading Dan's book right now. Only just started yesterday, but am really enjoying the story. But then I knew I would.
SAFE[HYPHEN]LDWRITES[AT]FLASH[DOT]NET

Lena Nelson Dooley said...

I have had many memorable Christmases. Some of the more recent ones have been when I've taught granddaughters how to make some of the Christmas goodies we all love.

I'm reading Dan's book right now. Only started yesterday, and I'm loving it, but then that's what I expected.

Anne Payne said...

Last year! My grandson was born on the 23rd of Dec at 36 weeks with fully developed lungs! His temperature gauge didn't work for a few weeks but he's fine now. He is a miracle. The doctors actually let them bring him home on Christmas Day and they came straight to our house, in a blizzard no less! We snuggled and loved on our miracle baby (to keep him warm!) and thanked God for a beautiful boy!

Anonymous said...

My favorite Christmas memory is the year we had a Christmas tree. We don't have Christmas trees when I was young because there wasn't any space in the house for it. One year, me and my sisters bugged our parents for a Christmas tree and they relented. It was really fun stocking the presents below the tree!

writer.chicka[at]gmail.com

Martha W. Rogers said...

Such wonderful memories for all of you!I can relate to Anne because our middle son was born on December 10 and only weighed 4 pounds with Hyaline Membrane condition. We brought him home on December 23 when he weighed 4 1/2 pounds. What a Christmas miracle he was. He'll be 49 next week.

Kimberly said...

One year when I was a child we were traveling to visit relatives. We were still driving Christmas morning and my dad pulled off into a rest stop and parked. My parents then gave my sister and I our stockings. Passersby stopped to watch through the windshield as my sister and I opened the little gifts in our stocking.
I'll never forget that Christmas at the rest stop.
Please enter me. kimberlyj503atgmaildotcom

Judy said...

My favorite Christmas memory of late is when my husband proposed to me and then went so far as to ask my Father if he could marry his Daughter! This will be our 8th Christmas together! Love is wonderful the second time around!

Blessings!
Judy B
judyjohn2004[at]yahoo[dot]com

Martha A. said...

How neat about your grandchildren!!! This year I am super thankful for my little niece who was born at 25 weeks, the only survivor of a set of identical triplet girls. She started walking on Thanksgiving week and we were just so moved by those little miracles!

Janice said...

I will share a Christmas memory that is not a favorite, but it might be humorous for those who were not there. We were in line to see Santa with our young son at Stone Mountain. They had the best Santa who had a natural white beard and hair, and they had dwarf people to be the elves. It was a perfect setting. We had a long line to wait in. As we got closer to Santa our son was acting tired so I picked him up and let his head rest on my shoulder. I was afraid he would fall asleep before we could see Santa since this was in the evening. We inched our way forward. All of a sudden our son began to vomit (projectile vomiting) and you have never seen a line clear out so fast. It was pitiful, but we were happy he did not throw up on Santa. My beautiful red wool blazer got thrown away. Sadly, I came down with the illness on Christmas Eve and was too sick to enjoy Christmas Day.

Perhaps this shared memory will help someone else who remembers a not so good Christmas realize it could have been worse!

jsmithg@hotmail(dot)com

Janice said...

I am not sure if my e-mail address got into the other comment. It is jsmithg@hotmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I have a limited number of holidays to choose from because I'm a teenager. But Christmas is my favorite holiday, so every year is wonderful. I think my favorite was last year when ALL of my extended family came and we played games, sang carols, and ate a lot of food! :)
Dan's book sounds great...especially because it's Christmas!
~Marissa

marissamehresman(at)aol(dot)com

Giveaway Lady said...

I think my favorite holiday memory was seeing some good friends we hadn't seen in a while. It was a great time as it had been so long. Wonderful time of fellowship! Thanks for this great giveaway!

esterried[at]yahoo[dot]com

Debbie Taulman said...

My favorite Christmas memory is when I received a Wire-Hair Fox Terrier for Christmas. My great Aunt and Uncle got it for me. He was even wrapped up in a box and started crying when they brought him in. I was so excited to get the puppy that I really don't remember anything else about that Christmas.

Debbie
debbie@taulman.org

Martha W. Rogers said...

Oh, Janice, what a horrible experience, but looking back it is funny, too. Children are so unpredictable, but that's one thing that makes them so special.

Marissa, I had some of my best Christmases before I reached age 20. Hang on to those memories, even better, write them in a journal.

Jackie Layton said...

When we were dating, my husband called me and asked me to come over after work to help him decorate his Christmas tree. I worked 12 hours, drove 1 hour to get home so it was about 10pm when I showed up. But I was crazy in love with him, so I went. As we hung ornaments, he asked me what was on one of the branches, and it was an engagement ring. He proposed and of course I said yes.

I'm so glad you asked!
Joyfully,
Jackie

joyfuljel(at)gmail(dot)com

Anne Payne said...

I forgot my email address!

homesteading[at]charter[dot]net

jewels67 said...

mrslippo@hotmail.com

On Christmas Eve we would all go to midnight mass with our grandma smith and then we would go ice skating after mass. I miss her so very much we had so much fun at grandma's house ..

Julie Lippo
mrslippo@hotmail.com