Don came in the house the other day after running some errands and said “Merry Christmas!” He was carrying two boxes addressed to me. They were from Kathy and Barbara, two readers of this blog.

I needed some cheering up and who doesn’t love opening a present?

Kathy sent a lovely sympathy card with a poem that made Don and me cry. She sent an additional copy for me to send to Meredith. Kathy’s present was all about comfort food – for all three members of our family.

The Ghirardelli chocolates are almost gone. Don will polish off those Corn Nuts in no time. And Milo’s Chicken Meatballs are Scout’s favorite treat. We add them to her food because she loves them so much.

Thank you, Kathy.

Barbara sent a beautiful sympathy card and a box full of goodies.

Two books and a bookmark. I almost bought The Miniaturist when I was in NYC, but held off. So I’m excited to now have a copy. The other book I’ve not heard of, but it’s subtitled: Pride and Prejudice: The Servants’ Story, which sounds very interesting, indeed. And you know how I feel about cupcakes.

Minis! That mini canvas is fabulous and is going to go over the sofa in the TSP. There are two more record albums and a NYC sign.

Lovely tins. Don’t you want some of these in your real-life home? And a cup of coffee/tea.

A keyboard for the TSP. I discovered this keyboard online and had it bookmarked for a future purchase, but Barbara beat me to it. Love, love it.

And an adorable doggie egg cup. Actually, two of them, the other was downstairs when I took this picture.

Thank you so much, Kathy and Barbara. You brightened my day. What lovely presents!

In other news, I added my finished Obsession Scarf to the Etsy Shop, which has been on a two-year hiatus. I’m almost done with the turquoise scarf and I’ll list that, too. Since crocheting provides some comfort at the moment, I will most likely make a few more. The widget for the Etsy shop is on my sidebar.

Edited to add: Sold. Thank you! I’ll add another scarf in the next couple of days…

I’m stealing this next photo from my sister’s blog. I have a copy, too, but it’s packed away.

That’s my dad and my grandfather. Dad was a decorated veteran of WWII. Like so many at that time, he joined the Air Force when he was very young – eighteen – and served for four years. He never glorified war. He barely spoke of it when I was growing up. He wasn’t into all of the rah-rah, go get ’em, kill the bastards crap that we’ve all heard. He saw firsthand the horrors of war and he never forgot them. In his final years, he was tortured by nightmares of that time in his life. It came back to haunt him.

I admire the fact that my dad never bragged about his time in the war. Meredith and I never even knew he was decorated until we found that paperwork in my parents’ safe deposit box during my August visit to Florida. He was a gentle and kind man, my dad. But the war made a mark on him and he was forever changed by it. We think that some of what we saw in him  – the tension, the nervous problems, the mood swings – may have been the result of what he went through as a very young soldier seeing things no one should ever see.

On this Veteran’s Day, I honor my dad. And I fervently hope for an end to all wars.

Happy Wednesday.