The Gift of Words

I've known I would be writing the Muffin blog post on December 25th for several weeks. So for several weeks I've been mulling over what I should write. Of course the things I could write about the holidays are endless. But this is a blog about writing. So what to post on Christmas about writing? 

Our home will be filled to the brim this weekend with myself, my hubby, three kids, two boyfriends, one dog and visits to various grandparents, aunts & uncles and cousins. There will be church, Christmas eve chili, Christmas morning breakfast, roast beef supper, an endless supply of homemade cookies and pierogies. There will be "It's a Wonderful Life". There will be my mom singing "Silver Bells".  There will be football. There will be gifts. I'm most intrigued by my son's mystery gift. Although he swears his Christmas gift was getting his tousled curly hair cut into a "I just made it through Marine boot camp" style, little birdies have told me he went shopping and had his own idea (usually he takes suggestions from his sisters and dad).

As you can tell, my holiday -- and I imagine most people's holiday -- has one common denominator: family. For some it will be the family they were born with, for others it will be a family they created out of friends and neighbors.

So I'd like to give everyone a chance to think over how much a part our families play, not only in our holidays, but also in our writing. When we were dating my husband spent many dates reading my short stories or tagging along when I went somewhere for an article I was researching. Not exactly his first choice for a fun Saturday night. My children have spent their lives hearing, "One more sentence..." or "No talking now. I'm calling someone for an interview." They survived NANO, bad moods brought on by writer's block or rejections and the boredom of attending book signings for mom's book.

What gift could I ever give to thank them for their support, sacrifice and patience? Early in our marriage, when we were poor in money but rich in creativity I gave my husband the gift of words. I wrote a piece of creative writing about racing (my husband worked on a pit crew) titled "The Knights of the Dirt Circle". He still has the original, painstakingly typed on my electric typewriter, complete with white-out marks. What better way to thank the people who are my writing cheerleaders than with words? So I'm going to spend some time this year completing a piece of writing for each of my family members so next Christmas I will have some truly unique gifts to give.

Merry Christmas!

Jodi M. Webb is writer living in Pennsylvania who also is a WOW blog tour manager. You can find her blogging about books at Building Bookshelves.