Another Year, another Christmas

Merry Christmas! Jolene Navarro here. As I write this it is deep into the night, the house is quiet and the Christmas tree lights the dark room.

I love Christmas decorations, each one comes with a special story.  Over the years the memories get deeper and richer with  little sparkles of sadness coating  them.  Most of my angels that hang around my tree came from my mother and a few came from students. Of course with four children I have all the handmade ornaments glued and dated by little hands that are now all grown up.

Each year marks a loss of some sort: people, youth, and phases of life your children outgrew. You can let it take the joy or you can  find joy in remembering the legacy of the one you have lost. Of where your children have grown. When they come home they actually decorate the tree.

In my Christmas story, A Texas Christmas Wish, my hero has a hard time coming home because all he see is the loss of his mother and sister. Seeing his nieces getting older reminds him of the thing his mother and sister will never do again. He lives in the pain a grief instead of finding ways to heal and honor them.

His father is grieving too but both men are a bit on the stubborn side and ignore instead of embracing. The heroine’s faith and optimism in spite of her own rough life brings the men around to seeing the beauty in their memories and celebrating the legacy of the women they love.

 My own mother loved Santa figures. As she bought me a new angel for my tree each year I bought her a new Santa for her collection. When I see a unique Santa my first impulse is to buy it and it makes me a bit sad, but that’s okay. We take our sadness and turn it into blessings. Through me and my children she lives on in our lives.

The naivety scene pictured below, belonged to my mother. She made it when I was about eight years old. She poured the molds and glazed the set. A few of the pieces have been bumped and dinged but they are the first thing I set up in my house and the last thing I put away.

They remind me of one of my favorite line from a story: The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams

“Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit.

'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'

'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'

'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”

So maybe another year has made us a  a bit shabbier, but the Lord has designed us for relationships the most important on is with him. So this Christmas whether you are surrounded by tons of family or quietly alone, light a candle and remember the greatest gift is eternal life we are given because of faith in the unseen.

FEATURED BOOK AND INTERVIEW: A Texas Christmas Wish by Jolene Navarro

Karly Kalakona's new nursing job is the perfect Christmas gift she and her son needed for their future. The single mom just never counted on dealing with not only a stubborn patient, but also with his prodigal son. After years away, pilot Tyler Childress is only a temporary traveler to the Texas ranch he's spent his life escaping. But the chemistry he shares with his father's nurse is undeniable—and has him thinking of sticking around past the holiday season. Can Tyler learn to trust the woman whose caring ways are bringing his father back to life…and who might just be the partner his wandering heart can find a home with?

Interview:

How exciting to have Tyler Childress the hero from A Texas Christmas Wish by Jolene Navarro an October 2015 release from Love Inspired Romance.

1.  Tyler, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

            I’ve been flying airplanes before I could drive a car. I got my private license when I turned thirteen. I would have gotten it earlier but my father wanted me to have more hours in the air than was required. He was a tough, tougher than any of my instructors in flight school.

2.  What do you do for fun?

I fly. I’m an international commercial polite but I also have my own Piper. Been thinking about buying a bi-plane.

3.  What do you put off doing because you dread it?

Going home. I had a great childhood growing up on a ranch in the Texas Hill Country.  But then I lost my mom to cancer and two years later my sister was killed in a car crash. Going back to the ranch just reminds me of all the memories we won’t be able to make. I see them in every corner. My father is always asking when I’m coming home. When am I to start dating the right kind of girl? We can’t be in the same room for more than fifteen minutes without arguing about something. As much as I love my dad I dread talking to him. He had a stroke so I’m heading home now. I promised my brother-in-law I wouldn’t argue with anything my father says. We’ll see how that goes.

4.  What are you afraid of most in life?

After losing my mom and sister there isn’t much else I’m afraid of. Maybe someone taking advance of my dad. He’s so trusting and always helping people. I’m afraid he’s going to trust the wrong person one day. When people think you have money they’ll use you.

5.  What is the most important thing to you?

My freedom. I like being able to go and do whenever I want too.

6.  Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?

As a pilot there is a great deal of down time and usually I read suspense or stories about historical event. Don’t tell anyone but one day I was bored and picked up a romance. So now I’m a secret romance reader.

7.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I wish I could feel more settled, content. You know, learn to live in the moment.

8.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

Nope. I’m always gone.

9. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

That’s easy, the Christmas before my mom died. We were all there, like every Christmas. All the food and family. She loved traditions. We would get a tree from the ranch and decorate the house even the barns. There was not a tree saved from being wrapped in lights. She finished the days with hot chocolate and stories. Each year she had us make angels with our hand prints. The year I was a senior in high school I thought I was too cool to do all the corny family things. I’d give anything to go back and hug her and do all the things she wanted me to do. I’d let her know how important she was to me. Her and my sister, I’d tell them I loved them one last time. How about you? Where would you go back to? Who would you want to talk to one last time?

Small Towns, Big Families with Jolene Navarro

Jolene Navarro here. Did you know we only have twelve Fridays until Christmas! But we are not here to talk about that. Even though I do have a Christmas story that is out and about in book form, with the eBook being released Thursday.  Another story set in the fictional small Texas Hill Country of Clear Water. But I'm here to talk about small towns.

Frio Canyon - Home of my fictional town, Clear Water, Texas

 

 I love life in a small town.  People know people. They know your grandmother, your cousins and your children. You belong. You have a history. You’re part of a story.  You know why the locals call the intersection at HWY 46 and Herff Rd. Sheep Dip Crossing.

  

On a sad note the newbies in town give you a blank stare if your direction include Sheep Dip Crossing or “where Poorboys use to be.” I’m guessing in the next couple of generations the terms will be gone for our local vocabulary.

The thing that can drive you cray in a small town? People know people. They know your grandmother, your cousins… well, you get the picture.  People remember you as a teenager, and all the stupid senseless stuff you want to forget. They really know your family members. There is no glossing over or hiding the crazy. 

 Remember the time when…..can cause you to break out in a cold sweat and glancing around to see if your kids are near. Half the stories aren't  even true. And sometimes they say that and you really can’t recall what they are talking about, so do you fake it and laugh or start an argument when you respond with ‘NO that never happened’?  Memories are long and live on every corner.

My father was born in the"old" house. It was moved to the back of the property when a new house was built - with a pool and game room! Loved our summers here!

There are different levels of small towns. Places like Leakey, Texas with less than 400 people. It is also the kind of town I love writing about, generations of ranchers, business owners and dreamers.  One street light.  Kindergartners to twelfth graders are on the same school campus. Community is strong.  A church on every corner. Not a great deal has changed there over the years, expect the path of the river with each flood and they can now sell beer. (Which some of the churches are not happy about.)

This is one of my hometowns. My great-great grandparents settled there and my parents met and married there. It’s also the place I met my love and married him. We moved back and lived there during the birth of one of our four children. I love this little valley in the Texas Hill Country. My husband’s family has been there for three generations now. It will always be home.  Go Eagles!

My four kids on the football field were my dad played and their dad played and coached.

Four generations of Navarros in Leakey. The tiny little lady in the middle is the mother, grandmother and great grand of the picture

Then you have small towns like Boerne, Texas. My other hometown. When I started school here in 1979, there was one high school, one middle school and an elementary or two. No chain restaurant or fast food. The grocery store and pharmacy were owned by local families.  The owner of the restaurant greeted you by name.

We rode our horses to the General Store where you could still hear people speaking German.  Today Boerne is going through growing pains. Being north of San Antonio,  people are moving in to find the love of having the Main Street USA feel of small town with the convenience of one of the biggest cities in the United States of America.

Boerne Main Street Plaza

The Dienger Trading Co. It was the Library for a while.

Now-a-days you don’t see as many family owned businesses when you drive down Main Street.  For the sake of convenience the big box stores have staked a claim along the highway, forcing the mom and pop shops to close or redefine themselves.

I write small town stories because it is what I know and love.  A Texas Christmas Wish is the third book that takes place in a small fictional town of Clear Water, Texas on the Frio River.  

Frio River at Seven Bluff Crossing

 In my story the hero takes the heroine to the local lumber yard. A place where generations have counted on the Bergmann family to provide high quality building materials as they construct their own homes and business.

Bergmann Lumber Store Front in Boerne Texas

In real life Bergmann Lumber is a two story limestone building on Main Street in Boerne. It is a historical site and owned by the same family for three generations. Randy Bergmann and his daughters have managed to reinvent their store front and focus on customer service with a mix of daily lumber and hardware needs along with gifts and one of a kind home decor.

Visiting at the Book signing at Bergmann Lumber - Love Small town life.

Children left unattended in Bergmann Lumber will find lots of ways to entertain themselves.

In honor of my  favorite Texas small towns and the families that live there (real and fictional) I have had each off my book signing at Bergmann Lumber. Yes, I have book signings at a hardware store. They also carry my books year round. (How cool is that?) They are one of the few family owned businesses that have found a way to survive the shift in Boerne’s population and demographics. 

So if you want to buy a story about small town, family and faith go by Bergmann Lumber on Main Street in Boerne, Texas. (they are also in Walmart and Amazon..shhhh I didn't tell you that) You can also support small businesses by doing some early Christmas shopping and visit you locally owned businesses. 

Do you have a small town you love. If so what do you love about it? Do you make a point to shop at locally owned stores or do you find the big guys easier and less expensive?