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observations, musings and miscellany from an unapologetic sentimentalist.
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Bill Fortenberry
Dec 17, 20234 min read
this year, it's mrs. fortenberry's christmas
as sentimental as i am, i've never been one for a nostalgic christmas tree. i've always gone for the carefully placed, curated, perfectly...
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Bill Fortenberry
Dec 27, 20223 min read
the christmas story - 2022
For the first time in probably 20 years or more, we didn't go to Christmas Eve services at church. I'd be lying if I said I missed Pastor...
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Bill Fortenberry
Dec 17, 20224 min read
Thinking About Christmas - Three Stories
Christmas isn't easy for everyone. Sometimes, it can be hard to muster joy, sing a carol or laugh at a party. There may be a temptation...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 26, 20223 min read
the christmas hitchhiker
DECEMBER 2021 - White Christmases are rare in my part of the country. You’re far more likely to have the windows open and the air...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 26, 20224 min read
soaking in christmas
DECEMBER 2018 - I’ve already established, in past blogs, that I’m not for skipping past Thanksgiving to go straight into Christmas the...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 14, 20223 min read
not offended by christmas
DECEMBER 2017 - A rare, early-December snow coupled with an unexpected complication or two landed me in front of a warm fire getting lost...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 14, 20222 min read
before rushing ahead to christmas, let's stop and be grateful
NOVEMBER 2017 - It’s two days before Thanksgiving, and I am as giddy as a kid on Christmas Eve. My boy, my musician, my college...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 13, 20224 min read
lessons from mexico: black jesus
FEBRUARY 2017 - It is 7 a.m. The sun is up in Ichmul, Mexico, and the only sound is the occasional rooster or the wild birds that hide in...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 13, 20223 min read
valerie's star
DECEMBER 2016 - Our Christmas tree took a turn toward the rustic this year, and the finishing touch is 10 jute stars, a gift from Valerie...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 13, 20224 min read
three (almost) christmas miracles
DECEMBER 2016 - Two days after Christmas I and 24 others from my church, will fly to Mexico for a week of mission work in the towns of...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 13, 20223 min read
let's celebrate christmas
DECEMBER 2016 - Maybe it’s because we are living in such combative times, coming off a contentious election where every soul with an...
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Bill Fortenberry
Sep 12, 20223 min read
december 1: looking way back
DECEMBER 2016 - All too often in these materialistic days, the commercial and social aspects of the Christmas season have tended to...
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Bill Fortenberry
Aug 20, 20222 min read
one bite, and it is 1969
JANUARY 2016 - Four words. Atkinson’s Peanut Butter Bar. Every once in a while you come upon that thing that transports you back in time....
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Bill Fortenberry
Aug 13, 20222 min read
merry christmas (eve)
DECEMBER 2015 - This holiday didn't turn out like I thought it would. I have been told that Christmas is for kids and that the magic of...
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Bill Fortenberry
Aug 13, 20223 min read
a daniel tiger christmas
DECEMBER 2015 - My sweet cousin, already a candidate for World's Greatest Mom, posted on Facebook this picture of her family's nativity...
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Bill Fortenberry
Aug 9, 20222 min read
a christmas dream come true
Somewhere in a dusty box is a crayon drawing on construction paper, a Christmas card I drew for my mom 40 years ago. It was a gift, but,...
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Bill Fortenberry
Jul 25, 20223 min read
anticipation: the trouble with technology
JANUARY 2012 - Know what I miss? Anticipation, bad pictures of cute people and kids playing together. What took them away? Technology....
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Bill Fortenberry
Jul 25, 20223 min read
the christmas that almost wasn't
DECEMBER 2011 - Christmas is a difficult holiday for me. I’ve done it to myself, allowing my brain to fill with sentimentals, and hopeful...
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Bill Fortenberry
Jul 25, 20222 min read
the countdown to christmas
The thought started as so many do. The night was cold and clear, stars shining against a black sky. While Copper, our yellow Lab, sniffed...
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Bill Fortenberry
Jul 25, 20223 min read
the chaos of christmas
DECEMBER 2011 - I don’t where I first got the idea that Christmas was about midnight snowfall and warm reunions, but somewhere along the...
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