Category Archives: Columns

Too many questions

December 14, 2020Christmas, Columns, Familysusanmanzke

With three children in 1981, Christmas was a production. But the big question was, When’s Santa coming?

An impossible question for this mother to answer. Back then the children had no sense of time.

Listen what happened when it started to snow in early December.

May you have good memories of your Christmases past and share them with family, too.

Christmas gifts were hidden

December 13, 2020Columnssusanmanzke

One gift went into my closet in the summer–when I was on my game, I shopped early for Christmas. That one gift was soon joined by another and another.

Too soon my closet had no room for my clothes.

This recounting of closet problems came from a 1981 column.

These days my closet only holds clothes. There’s no one to hide gifts from. All you have to do is look in my dining room to see all my secrets.

I look forward to days when I have to hide gifts for Christmas.

Gift for Bob

December 12, 2020Christmas, Columnssusanmanzke

Early in our marriage, Bob and I tried to find gifts for each other.

Bob never had a clue what to get me.

Eventually, we gave up trying.

Mostly, if I found a book for Bob, he got it as a gift. I didn’t always wait for Christmas.

Bob’s gifts for me came during the farming season. He’d bring me ditch daisies or even found turkey feathers. It was always something from nature, even a neat looking rock.

All tied up wrapping gifts

December 11, 2020Christmas, Columns, Familysusanmanzke

I shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to wrap our Christmas gifts. It became a tradition to finish after midnight, just before our rug rats woke up.

In those early years, I took on this task alone. Bob usually slept through this elf’s work. In later years, Bob helped, too. That relieved some of my seasonal stress.