Whew!!! We Made It!!!
Well, we did it. The holidays are now officially over. Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year, and even Epiphany/the Feast of the Kings. The holidays can be so challenging and depressing for some. It is a time of joy and disappointments, excitement and happy times and dashed hopes in some cases. It is a time for families to be together, and also a time when people can feel very much alone. And even if you had a great time, having lots of family around can sometimes be a challenge. But whether the holidays lived up to expectation, or not, we did it, it’s over. And we can get down to the business of living now, getting the year off to a great start, having high hopes again that this year will be better than the last one….making resolutions….trying to take off the pounds we added while eating too much over the holidays…or just catching our breath and recovering if these holidays were tough and didn’t live up to our expectations (I hate it when that happens!!). The toughest holidays we ever had was the year my son Nick died, the holidays were so very, very, very hard. But we got through them, and we’ve had some wonderful holidays since, although we always miss him (on holidays and at all other times too). I hope that your holidays were great this year, and if they weren’t, then I hope you can put them behind you quickly!!!
For some reason my own personal time clock seems to be hooked to the school year (maybe because I have so many children, and two are still in school, so school has been part of my life forever!!!). I always feel like it’s a new year in September, when the kids go back to school (the smell of new pencils and new notebooks will live in me forever!!). So for me it feels like a new year begins in the fall with ‘back to school’. But the real calendar, the world’s time clock, is hooked to January, and the start of a whole new, clean year. Last year was tough for so many people, with the economy struggling, some businesses not doing well, many people out of work. It was a year of struggles and ingenuity for many, to make it through. And we did. So I am hoping that this year will be easier, a good year, a GREAT year, a year of a better economy, jobs for so many people and a sigh of relief that things are back on track and will continue to improve. I wish you happy times this year, safety, health, and cherished moments, I hope that all your dreams come true. I hope that your worries disappear like mist, and that the people around you love you, appreciate you, and hold you close. A new year has just begun, let’s wipe the old slate clean, and hope for a truly GREAT one. Happy New Year, my friends, I hope that this year will be your best ever!!!! Love, Danielle
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Hi all the way from South Africa!
I love the fact that you do a blog. I have always been a fan of yours. I am 27 years old and live in South Africa.
Christmas was not too much fun for me this year, because all my in-laws came to have Christmas lunch at my house and some of them are not too well behaved!
New years was better though.
Keep writing!
Love Claudia
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
To a new year of chances, change and taking charge.
x0
Dear Danielle,
you are SO special!!!!
Greetings from Croatia!
DEAR D.S. I HAVE READ ALL OF YOUR BOOKS AS HAVE MILLIONS IN SOCIETY. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE VIEWED YOUR WEB-SITE (NEW TO PC) JUST FINISHED SOUTHERN LIGHTS. THE COVER IS A BIT EERIE BECAUSE OF IT’S DARKNESS. THE BACK COVER IS NOT GLAMOROUS AS USUAL,I KEPT STARRING AT IT. I LOVE ALL OF THE BRACELETS AND WONDER HOW MANY YOU TAKE OFF AT NIGHT? MOST OF ALL THE STORY IS WONDERFUL, THAT IS MOST IMPORTANT. MY TWO GIFTS ARE AN ABILTY TO WRITE I ALWAYS SAY IF I KEPT A JOURNAL, I COULD TAKE IT TO AN AGENT HAVE IT EDITED, AND PUBLISHED,IT COULD FILL THREE D.S NOVELS. MY OTHER SKILL IS BEING ARTISTIC. MOST OF ALL AND WAY BEYOND ABILITIES AND DEGREES IS HAVING CHILDREN. UNFORTIONALLY TWO OF THEM HAVE SEVERED RELATIONSHIPS.IT IS A STORY THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE. MY LIFE WAS DEDICATED TO THEM. I WAS AN EDUCATER FOR FOURTEEN YEARS, AND THEN HAD MY OWN INTERIOR DESIGN FIRM FOR THIRTY YEARS. I ADMIRE YOU AND YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND MOST OF ALL THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO HELP DEVELOP INTER- RELATIONSHIPS SO YOUR CHILDREN ARE FRIENDS WITH EACH OTHER.I HAD A MEETING WITH A SUCCESSFUL FEMALE WRITER AND TOLD HER THAT I COULD ALWAYS TELL IF I HAD READ YOUR BOOK BY THE SENSATIONAL OUTFITS YOU WORE. SHE STILL USES THE PHOTO IN THE SAME PANT SUIT.I WAS TOLD BY AN AUTHOR TO JUST START EVEN IF IT IS TWO SENTANCES A DAY. I LOVE THAT YOU STILL USE A TYPEWRITER. I WOULD NEED TO HAND WRITE ON A YELLOW LEGAL PAD, WHICH WOULD GO FAIRLY WELL AS IT IS IF SOMEONE IS POURING THE INFORMATION OUT ON PAPER FOR ME. YOU MAY NEVER SEE THIS BUT IT MADE ME FEEL GOOD TO BE IN CONTACT WITH YOU SPIRITUALLY ON A RAINY LONELY DAY. IT IS SOOO AMAZING TO THINK OF HOW MANY LIVES YOU HAVE TOUCHED, GIVING THEM THE HAPPY ENDING STORIES. FORGIVE SPELLING AND PUCTUATION,CANNOT LOCATE SPELL-CHECK. STAY WELL, WITH YOUR DELIGHTFUL EXTENDED FAMILY LOVE M.T.
Hello again ~ I agree..fall is the “new year”. You are so wonderful, I hang on your words. Dawn
Dear Ms. Steel, I wrote to you via e-mail long ago and then when you lost Nick. I just wanted to say…I love you books, all that I have read and I have a large library of them. I just finished reading “One Day at a Time” and I thought it was great. However, if you ever decide to write a sequel to any book, please consider this book to let us know how life turns out for these folks. I’ve never written to an author to make any suggestions-I’ve never had the nerve!! I think of you and your family a lot. Do you ever publish pictures of them, or do they (and you) like more privacy than that? I will keep reading your books, I read new and my old ones, and wishing that I could meet you one day in the future. Shirley C. Boone
This is way more helpful than anything else I’ve looked at.