Subversive Knitting

---

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Hello everyone! I hope your holidays got off to a good start on Thanksgiving. It is my favorite day of the year. Although I don't believe in a supernatural being to whom I should give thanks, I like to spend time on Thanksgiving morning thinking about all of the people in my life to whom I am thankful for their love and support. I get up at around 5:30 to make stuffing using my grandmother's recipe, and to stuff a 20 pound turkey and get it into the oven. After that, I sit down with a cup of hot coffee to reflect and to appreciate the goodness in my life. While the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is on TV, I do some last minute cleaning and catch up on all of my laundry. I know it doesn't sound like much fun, but getting my house in order always makes me feel peaceful so for me it's a great way to prepare for the afternoon's festivities.

Happy Holidays from Donna & Dom!

Because there are only three people from my family in the area (me, my husband, and my mother), we usually invite some friends over for dinner. This year we had eight people. Just the right size crowd for a cozy celebration. Inviting friends over for the day reminds me of those who are not as fortunate as we are, to have family and friends nearby to gather together on special occassions, as well as those who don't have the money to create a sumptuous feast on Thanksgiving or to buy piles of presents for their children on Christmas, Hannukah, or whatever winter holiday they celebrate.

According to the U.S. Department of Education every year, over 800,000 children and teens are homeless in the United States. In addition, the number of families and children in poverty in the U.S. has been rising steadily over the past several years. Last year alone, over a million more people fell below the official poverty level of approximately $15,000 a year income for a family of four. While the American people are overwhelmingly generous, our government is one of the stingiest in the world according to former President Jimmy Carter.

I read this quote from a minister on another blog recently: "We are disappointed that the House made cuts to the Food Stamp Program and are poised to cut taxes for the wealthy. Their choice takes food from families struggling to make ends meet and puts more money in the pockets of those who need it the least," said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "This is morally wrong and will make Thanksgiving bleaker for hundreds of thousands of hard-working families." ( Read the original story.) It will make Christmas bleaker as well.

I'll never forget the day I found out that Santa was not real. I was nine years old and my parents had recently separated. My mother was folding the laundry on the bed in her cheery bedroom. (It was always spring in this room with bold yellow and orange flowered wallpaper covering one wall and sunny yellow paint on the others.)

My mother said, "Don't be disappointed, but you won't be getting so many presents for Christmas this year."

"How do you know?" I replied, thinking that my mother could have no idea what Santa was planning to bring.

"Because we don't have a lot of money."

She didn't tell me any more, but I knew then that

Santa wasn't the one who brought Christmas to our house.

No child should have to find out that Santa is not real because of poverty. For the many children all over the country and the world who won't be getting many--or any--holiday presents this year, I've designed a cuddly teddy bear that you can knit and donate to a local toy drive or to your favorite charity. Please join with me in this time of cheer to reach out to those in need, and in the new year remember to support programs that help the poor and to vote for representatives who will work toward making the United States government as generous as its citizens are.