Our First Christmas Season

November 1, 2021

My Best Gift Ever - You!

A woman is sitting on the floor talking on a cell phone

Since it was the Christmas season, we decided to be a bit more responsible with finances, so you didn’t come home on your days off during December 6 through 18. You visited with your Grandma Penn, Aunt Peggy and the rest of your mother’s family in Accokeek, Maryland about twenty minutes away from Arlington, Virginia. I finished the semester at ACC and continued planning the wedding.

You came home to celebrate Christmas during December 19-22. We visited with both families as well as the Fields. We exchanged gifts with each other, but decided to wait until Christmas day to open them. You got me several things but my favorite was a stuffed St. Bernard dog and cat. They have sat in every bedroom we’ve had and still sit in the armoire of our bedroom as I write this.

I got you shirts and sweaters, because I loved how you looked in them and because you needed them.

We couldn’t be together for Christmas or New Year, because money was tight and you were the new guy so you couldn’t get leave. It was difficult for both of us, but I was always so thankful that our love was already so deep and secure that letters and phone calls sustained us. I also sent you several batches of cookies.

A woman in a blue jacket and white shirt is smiling for the camera.

I am a school counselor turned counselor educator, professor, and author helping educators and parents to build social, emotional, and academic growth in ALL kids! The school counseling blog  delivers both advocacy as well as strategies to help you deliver your best school counseling program.

A man and a woman are holding hands while walking in the woods.

I'm a mother, grandmother, professor, author, and wife (I'll always be his). Until October 20, 2020, I lived with my husband, Robert (Bob) Rose, in Louisville, Ky. On that awful day of October 20,2020, my life profoundly changed, when this amazing man went on to Heaven. After Bob moved to Heaven, I embraced my love of writing as an outlet for grief. Hence, the Grief Blog is my attempt to share what I learned as a Counselor in education with what I am learning through this experience of walking this earth without him. My mission is to help those in grief move forward to see joy beyond this most painful time. 

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