This will be the 8th year out of 9 that we continue the tradition of having the Contributors on the cover! It has been great fun thinking up the theme. This year, in a meeting I let it be a group decision. Someone said they felt like everything in the world seems so heavy right now and we could do something light and warm and fuzzy like Christmas Jammies. And so it was. 

What some know, and others don't is that for 28 hours I thought all the photos were lost due to our photographer's computer crashing. By some miracle, they were recovered and I hope you enjoy the issue. 

A big thank you to Mark and Laurie Stafford who not only allowed us to shoot in their beautiful backyard, but it took place FIVE days after the hurricane! They rallied and the yard was immaculate. As we stood in their home for me to give directions for the shoot (a lot like herding cats), I started by saying it was beyond my wildest imagination that we would all be together only 5 days after the storm. It was a nice release amid each of our various levels of home and yard damage. Thank you to each of these contributors for being there! Only Nancy Holman, Phyllis Miller and Nannine Dahlen are missing from the photo! 

Another big shout out to Mark Stafford for wearing a very hot Santa suit to photo bomb the shoot. It was NOT a cool day and he championed though it! (Thank you Mark!)

The next issue will be in 2025!  Our 9th year. Hard to believe either one. I wish everyone many blessings this month as we say "Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025!"

Edee Dalke

Life. Celebrated Daily.