Growing up as a young Jewish boy in New York, my family and I did not celebrate Christmas, but many of our friends did. When we would visit, they always had mistletoe hanging in the center of a doorway. Initially, I thought the idea of kissing under the mistletoe was silly. As a teenager, this became...

The children are going to be a little difficult to control today. “Can we open just one present tonight?” We gave in to that ploy once. Both my wife and I were too tired even to notice that within about 20 minutes, every package under the tree had been opened … or so the boys thought. It was the...

…is for eyes to be opened and lives to be renewed and validated. Starting with myself, I realize I often do not feel I am “enough.” I need to be a better mother. I need to work harder for my company. I need to do more, more, more. But when I step back, I face the reality that even if I achieved...

More Christmas memories. I’m sure much of what I’m about to write could not happen in the “politically correct” Submarine Service of today’s United States Navy. Why, there are even women aboard the boats now. But when I was making Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine patrols in the early 1970s,...

I was taking a long bus ride about 15 years ago from Cairo to Jerusalem to spend Christmas Eve in Bethlehem with my “new boyfriend,” who is now the father of my two children and both my business and life partner. That Christmas Eve celebration was amazing – beautiful in so many ways, but especially...

Can you feel it in the air? Can you tell what time of the year it is? It starts in September, rapid-fire. What are we doing for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas – er, I mean, the holidays? Almost no one has an issue with Halloween, and after years of telling the little ones to take nothing...

Toyon is a well-known chaparral bush that gets special attention around the holidays because it has beautiful red and orange berries. It is also known under different names such as “Christmas berry” or “California holly” and “Hollywood.” The story goes that because this species is so abundant...

“What happened to Thanksgiving?” “Why are Christmas decorations up already?” “Is the City Council just plain crazy?” Let’s put this in perspective, folks: There is a brutal war in the Middle East that has beheading people as a prime method of “sending a message.” Gunmen kill at least...