Cameron’s Stocking—A New Family Treasure

This is one post I never expected to write.

Back in March, my son Chris and daughter-in-law Ashley stopped by on a Saturday morning, donuts from a new shop in hand. It felt like a typical visit—until they shared something extraordinary. After nearly 12 years of marriage, they were expecting a baby.

I’m not sure they got the reaction they were hoping for. I was too busy trying to pick my jaw up off the floor to respond properly. Both my husband and I were in shock. We had never pushed for a grandchild—having a child is a deeply personal decision, and it was never ours to make. Whenever the topic came up (and it wasn’t me who brought it up), they made it clear they didn’t want children. I had come to terms with that. But people can change their minds, which is what my son told me that day. So this news wasn’t just surprising—it was a blessing I never saw coming.

As soon as they left, I knew exactly what I had to do: make a Christmas stocking for my grandchild.

I had made a stocking for Chris, ready by his second Christmas. My younger son Kevin’s took a bit longer—31 years, to be exact—but I finished it in 2018. Ashley’s was stitched in 2019. I couldn’t bear the thought of this child having a store-bought stocking hanging beside two handmade ones. So, after a couple of days of mulling it over, I ordered a stocking kit and got to work the moment it arrived.

I kept the project a secret, just in case I didn’t finish. If you know my sons, you know they would never let me live that down. So that’s how I spent every afternoon this past spring and summer—stitching after lunch until it was time to start dinner. I even brought the project with me for my month-long Georgia visit with family in the spring. It came in handy when our train hit a truck on the way there and we were stuck on the tracks for several hours. Cross-stitching made the time fly by.

I documented my progress along the way, sharing updates with a few trusted family members in Georgia—under strict instructions not to breathe a word to anyone in Virginia. It was my little secret, and I wanted it to be a surprise when the time came. 

 

Sometimes the threads were a hot mess!

In June, I had to pause unexpectedly for eye surgery to repair a macular hole. I’d noticed the stitches were getting harder to see, but I work with 18-count Aida cloth, which is quite small. That had never been a problem before—but I’m not getting any younger. I blamed the lighting for my struggles. Little did I know! After the surgery, I had to spend a week face down, followed by two more weeks of recovery. Despite the setback, I pushed through—this time with the help of a lamp my husband kindly moved to my work area.

As is customary today, we learned the baby’s sex before he was born, and Chris and Ashley chose a first name. It took a while to settle on a middle name, so I took the opportunity to ask—more than once—what name they had selected, especially as the project neared completion. Every year, my family gathers the Sunday after Thanksgiving to help trim our crepe myrtles, clean out the gutters, put up the outdoor Christmas lights, and decorate gingerbread houses. It’s become a wonderful tradition, and I use it as a chance to hand out Christmas-themed gifts, like ornaments, at the beginning of the season instead of the end. My plan was to present the stocking that day.

I was nearly finished with the stocking—except for the name—by mid-August when Ashley invited me to join them for her monthly checkup, which included an ultrasound. At the appointment, the technician asked if they had chosen a name yet, and Ashley responded with “Cameron.” At that moment, I felt safe stitching his name. That gave me plenty of time to purchase the materials needed to complete the stocking and have it professionally finished.

All that was left was to fix the rope which my sister helped with

I finished a few days later and was able to relax during my next month-long visit to Georgia in the fall. My stitching isn’t perfect—some stitches are a little wonky, and I didn’t catch them until it was too late. I redid what I could, but didn’t let the imperfections stop me. I purchased velvet and silk-like fabrics for the back and lining, and when we returned home in September, took everything to a local alterations shop, where they transformed it into a proper stocking.

This stocking may never win a ribbon, but it was stitched with love. In the end, it’s not flawless stitches that make something a treasure—it’s the love woven into every thread. Cameron’s stocking is now part of our family’s story, ready to capture memories as he grows with each passing Christmas. I hope Santa fills it with goodies for my grandson for many Christmases to come. 

Christmas baking

Like many people, I’ve made my share of Christmas cookies over the years—mostly for work or to give as gifts to family and friends. I have several recipes I like to use but at some point, settled on two that were always well received—pecan tassies and coconut macaroons. What’s funny is that I’m not a fan of pecans or coconut so don’t eat either. I guess you could say that’s a good thing though! I thought it was time to share the recipes for these two favorites. Enjoy!

PECAN TASSIES

Shells
1 cup butter, softened
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 cups of all-purpose flour with a spoon just until the mixture forms a ball. Divide the dough into thirds, wrapping each portion. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. Roll the dough out, one third at a time, 1/8-inch-thick on lightly floured surface. Cut out with 2 ¼ inch round cutter. Gently press dough rounds into ungreased mini-muffin pan cups. Refrigerate shells until ready to fill and bake.

Filling
2 eggs
1 ½ cups dark brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups finely chopped pecans

Prepare shells according to the recipe. Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl using a wire whisk, lightly beat the eggs. Whisk in brown sugar, butter, and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Stir in the pecans. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the filling into each unbaked shell, filling about half full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until bottoms of pastries are crisp and light brown. Let cool 10 minutes in pans on wire racks. Remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen tassies.

• The ingredients are simple—just make sure the cream cheese and butter are softened. 
• A stand mixer comes in handy.
• Separate the dough into disks, wrap in Saran Wrap, then refrigerate. I usually make the dough one night and do the rest the next night.
• You can buy chopped nuts or chop them yourself in a food processor.

• I chop the pecans up pretty fine.
• It's handy to have two large tins. I fill one tin and pop it in the oven. While the first batch bakes, I prepare the second batch. The timing is just about right.
• You don't need to butter the tin. 
• Only take one disk of dough out of the refrigerator at a time. Chilled dough is easier to work with.
• Before making, I trim my fingernails to avoid my nail digging into the shell as I press the dough into the tin.
• I never roll the dough out. I always take the chilled disk of dough and cut it into squares small enough to fit in the tin with a butter knife. Do what works best for you.

• I bought a Mini-tart Shaper from Pampered Chef and found it very helpful in pressing the dough into the tin. You still have to form the dough with your finger but this gets it started for you. Before pressing the dough, I dip the Shaper into water.

• You don't need a mixer to blend the filling. A whisk works just fine.  
• I use a butter knife to pop the tassies out of the tin.

COCONUT MACAROONS

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flaked coconut
12 candied cherries, each cut into fourths

Heat oven to 300. Grease cookie sheet lightly (or use parchment paper). Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in a medium bowl until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. Fold in almond extract and coconut. Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Place a cherry piece on each cookie. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or just until edges are light brown. Cool 10 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies.

Murphy Santa Letters

Pat Murphy

I don’t want to cheat the Murphy side of the family out of its Santa letters so will share three I found in my late mother-in-law’s belongings.

Two are form letters sent from Santa to my husband Charlie and one of his siblings. The one to Charlie was sent via Reindeer Mail and was addressed to Mr. Charles Murphy of Monongah, West Virginia. By the way, the writing looks awfully similar to his Dad’s handwriting.

The third letter was written to Santa by my brother-in-law Pat Murphy. He writes that he’s six years old (although it looks like he wrote an eight first) so the letter would have been written in 1968. It reads:

Dear Santa,

My name is Pat. I am 6 years old. I would like a football suit and a ball, a talking Smokey Bear, a Saint Bernard dog, mail bag blocks, pop-up box, hop-hop, magic chest, phono-projector, popcorn machine, 11 games in all, boxing gloves, Battleship, robots, tool box, Dr. Kit, Knight, Green Hornet, farm set, guitar, marine, holster and rifle, canteen, Disney land, cavalry set, commander set. Thank you.

Patrick Murphy

I feel pretty certain that Santa didn’t bring him everything he wanted that year!

Wedding memories

Mr. and Mrs. Murphy

My husband and I celebrated our 37th anniversary this week so I have weddings on my mind. In honor of our anniversary, I thought I’d share memories of my wedding as well as the traditional items my son and daughter-in-law thoughtfully included in their 2013 wedding that honored our family.

When my husband Charlie proposed to me, I didn’t say yes immediately. Instead, I told him that this was a big decision and I needed to think about it. I couldn’t remember how long I made him wait so asked him as I wrote this. He said it was a week. I hope the wait was worth it to him.

Our wedding was for Charlie, not me. I never wanted one. I always felt weddings were a waste of money that would be better spent on setting up a house to live in at the beginning of a new marriage. A wedding also meant I had to be the center of attention and that’s just not me. But he said he was only doing this once and he wanted to do it right. So, the planning began. This was long before the Internet and Pinterest were around so thankfully my roommate Helene was there to guide me. I wouldn’t have been able to pull it off without her. We funded the wedding ourselves. I want to say we only spent $1000. My wedding dress was my something borrowed so that saved a lot of money. No fancy wedding photo album—all I have are snapshots and they’re not that clear. We had a live band that played for free—it was my brother-in-law’s band. Most of the money was spent on food that we prepared ourselves … and booze.

Me and Helene

We randomly selected the date, which turned out to be Charlie’s maternal grandparents wedding date as well. It was also Flag Day. This was appropriate considering Charlie wore his patriotic socks to the wedding (more about that later). The city I live in hangs flags on the telephone poles on our street every Flag Day so over the years I’ve had fun telling our boys they put them up to celebrate our anniversary. In fact, I still say that!

Three days before our wedding, I had to have an emergency root canal. The years of neglecting my teeth caught up with me at the wrong time. That was a lesson learned and I have taken very good care of them since then!

We had a simple ceremony in the neighborhood church my husband attended while growing up. The reception was held at the local fire department hall. Helene, my family, and I had spent Thursday and Friday that week preparing a wedding buffet for the approximately 150 people attending. Friends set the food up during the ceremony.

I had only lived in Virginia for a year so my part of the guest list was small—about 25—my family, my roommate, a friend and her family who I grew up with in Atlanta and who had convinced me to move to Virginia in the first place, and a handful of co-workers. The rest were Charlie’s family and friends.

Me and my Mama

Our niece Michelle was the flower girl. She gave me a “lucky” dime to carry as I walked down the aisle. As time drew near for the wedding to begin, Michelle started getting nervous. I believe we had to bribe her to walk down the aisle herself. She was still the best flower girl ever! Our neighbor’s son Brian was the ring bearer. I remember him telling me that he and I were the two most important people in the wedding. My brother Michael walked me down the aisle.

Left: Me and the best flower girl ever.
Right: Michelle and Brian

My brother Michael and me

Once everyone was seated inside the church, my soon to be brother-in-law Mike sang “Evergreen” and then later in the ceremony he sang the beautiful “Wedding Song” by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame. I heard the song playing on the radio one day while we were planning the wedding and knew I wanted that song. After we said our vows, everyone bowed their heads for a prayer. I remember having my eyes closed, hearing soft music, and thinking “who is playing music during my wedding!” Stupid me didn’t realize that Mike had started quietly playing the guitar as the minister finished the prayer. Once the prayer ended, Mike started singing the song. I still smile when I think about it today. Mike’s performance was beautiful and is a fond memory of my wedding. I just listened to the song and still think it was a good choice.

My brother-in-law Mike

We lit unity candles and I remember Charlie’s hands shaking so much I think the candle almost went out. I can still see us waving our fingers trying to will the flame to keep burning.

After the ceremony, we were driven to the reception by Charlie’s friend Eddie in his classic car.

Mike’s band played during the reception and was a great hit. They were a local favorite so many people already knew and loved them. I distinctly remember the fiddle player standing on top of a table playing the heck out of his fiddle when the band played “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” He brought the house down with his performance.

Mike and part of the band

My co-worker and friend Jan was our bartender. Charlie and his Dad had made a run to Washington, DC to stock the bar. They probably would have been arrested for transporting too much liquor across state lines if they’d been stopped! Charlie told me he was going to ask Mama to dance with him during the reception. Having never seen her dance, I told him that wouldn’t happen. We had a bottle of Cold Duck at the bar and told Jan that was just for Mama to give her a little encouragement. Charlie got his dance.

My friend Jan. We're still friends today.

When it was time to cut the cake, I was so gentle when I fed Charlie his bite. He on the other hand, was not so gentle and shoved the cake into my mouth. I had never heard of such a thing and couldn’t believe he had done that. Of course, now I know it’s just something people do. I don’t like that tradition.

See how gentle I was!

My sister Vanessa caught the bouquet and Charlie’s brother Pat caught the garter. As tradition has it, Pat then had to put the garter on Vanessa. When he took the garter a little higher than Michael felt he should, Michael jumped in and told him that’s high enough! He was smiling when he said it. We all got a kick out of it.

Vanessa caught the bouquet

Pat puts the garter on Vanessa

Charlie and I left the reception in his faded 1965 Mustang trashed by unknown individuals.

All in all, the day was a blur but I have many fond memories. At 37 years, I figured I’d better write them down before I forget some of them!

The wedding party

Us with my family from Georgia

While our families were involved in our wedding, thinking back, I don’t recall putting any thought into including them in ways that my son Chris and his wife Ashley included ours in their 2013 wedding. She and Chris honored our families in three ways which I thought were very touching.

The first thing was my son wearing his Dad’s wedding socks. I blogged about that last year. Click here if you’d like to read that story. Who knows if we’ll have a grandson who would one day buy into this tradition or if the socks will even survive that long. Only time will tell.

The second thing was the clay bowl they made for the ring bearer to carry in the wedding. Ashley found the idea on Pinterest and thought one of Mama’s doilies imprinted in the bowl would be cute. I think she was right. I was happy Mama came to Virginia for the wedding and could see it for herself. Here’s a few pictures of Chris and Ashley making the bowl, one with the ring bearer holding the bowl during the ceremony, and a picture of it on display at the reception.

Ring bearer bowl

The third thing was Ashley’s “something borrowed.” She asked me if I had something she might use for this traditional wedding piece so I pulled several items out of my jewelry box to see it something fit the bill. She picked my mother-in-law Mary’s 1929 mercury dime to pin on her garter. The dime had been wrapped in silver and had a loop at the top so it could be worn as a necklace, something Mary often did when she dressed up. The dime was special to Mary as she was born in 1929. I’m sure she would have loved the young woman her grandson picked for his bride and would have been honored to have loaned the dime to Ashley to use as her something borrowed as she walked down the aisle. But now looking back, if I’d remembered the dime my flower girl gave me to carry in my wedding, I would have asked Ashley if she too wanted to carry it in her wedding. Interesting that she picked my mother-in-law’s dime. That should have been a hint to me. I consider that a missed opportunity!

Ringing in the New Year

Is it sad to admit that I’ve never attended a big New Year’s Eve party? It’s just not my thing. I don’t drink so it’s not surprising, at least not to me. New Year’s Eve has always been a low-key event for me. We usually go out to dinner then come home and spend the night in front of the television. When my boys were younger, we’d go to Blockbusters and rent a couple of movies to watch. I’d make finger foods to snack on, although we never ate much of them. Most of us were still full from dinner so I stopped doing that. I did go all out for the year 2000 though. On the way home from dinner, we stopped and bought fireworks, something I’d never waste my money on any other time. I figured we’d only see a century change once in our lifetime so we might as well celebrate it. On December 31, 1999, we all went outside at midnight and set off the fireworks. And that was probably the only time anyone went outside with me at midnight. For many years, it was just me, myself, and I outside ringing in the new year with my noisemakers of choice—a kitchen pot and wooden spoon. When the boys were really young, they’d fall asleep before midnight and I wouldn’t want to wake them up. Then as they got older, they said I was embarrassing them and they wanted no part of it. Even Charlie wouldn’t go outside with me. So as the clock ticked down, I’d step outside and when midnight struck, I’d beat the pot with my wooden spoon as hard as I could for at least a minute. I was usually the only person in the neighborhood making any noise so I’m sure my neighbors weren’t happy with me, but no one ever complained. After all, it was New Year’s. People expected noise at midnight.

As it turns out, I’ve been carrying on a family tradition started years ago by my Mama. I mentioned to her one year what fun I had the night before ringing in the New Year and she told me that we used to do the same thing when we were growing up. I didn’t remember that but it must have been hidden somewhere in the depths of my memory. Why else would I have chosen this method to ring in the New Year?

So, as we bid farewell to 2016, once again, I’m sure I’ll be the only member of this Murphy family in my front yard ringing in 2017. I don’t want to break a tradition! I hope you’re able to carry on whatever family tradition you have with your loved ones. And if you don’t have a family tradition, it’s not too late to start one! Happy New Year everyone!

Vintage Christmas cards

We’ve only received a few Christmas cards this year and I can’t say a thing because we only mailed a few cards ourselves. Times have changed. Many people have stopped sending Christmas cards. Or possibly they’re sending electronic cards instead. So since I didn’t have many cards to enjoy, I thought I’d take a look at some of vintage Christmas cards in the Murphy family collection.

This first card is one my father-in-law Earl gave to my mother-in-law Mary. She loved cards. I believe when she died in 2006, she still had every card she’d ever received in her lifetime.

This is a card sent to my husband Charlie on his first Christmas in 1956. It is signed by Georgia Lee who was apparently a neighbor in West Virginia.

Georgia sent Mary a separate Christmas card that year.

This card was sent to Charlie by his grandparents—George and Bertha Athya–in 1957.

This cute card was also sent to Charlie by his Grandpa and Grandma Athya in 1960. The deer fur on the front of the card is textured so it actually feels like fur.

On the back, Grandma Athya wrote “You will tell us what Santa brought you for Christmas won’t you.”

This Santa card was sent to Charlie by Mrs. Gorby and Jimmy (his aunt’s mother and brother) in 1961.

Charlie made this card for his parents. I think it’s cute that he wrote “To Mother and Father” and signed it “Charles M.” He called them Mom and Dad and I’m sure they would have known who Charles was without the initial M.

None of the cards have a price on them. I’d love to compare the prices to what you pay for a card today.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year!