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Honoring
“Those who have enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.” ~Franklin D. Roosevelt Photo by Cindy La Ferle
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Our home in a holiday commercial
“From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it.” ~Katherine Whitehorn Setting up the living room / Cindy La Ferle Last week, our home was transformed by Detroit’s TMV Group into a festive set for a Faygo Redpop commercial. Two days prior to the shoot, a film crew rearranged the furniture in our living and dining rooms to accommodate lights and production equipment. Meanwhile, a Christmas tree with twinkle lights was assembled in our living room, then trimmed with ornaments. The staircase was festooned with bows and garlands; the fireplace mantle decked with holiday greens and Christmas stockings. (Doug and I…
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Mother’s Day “Ideals”
Ideals magazine was launched in 1944 with a Christmas issue compiled by Van B. Hooper, a public relations manager for a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, manufacturer. Over the years it has featured the writings of well-known authors such as Edgar Guest, Sue Monk Kidd, Chris Bohjalian, Susan Allen Toth, Garrison Keillor, and many others. Now produced by Guideposts, the magazine continues its celebration of American holidays with timeless stories, quotations, poetry, recipes, and fine art illustrations. Since 2008, several of my own essays (including a few from my book, Writing Home) have been published in several issues of Ideals and its hardcover gift anthologies. This spring, my essay describing my son’s first year away from home (“Field…