Alva Review-Courier -

The magic of Christmas comes in many shapes and forms. I remember the shiny gloss of a purple-and-white J.C. Higgins bicycle at age 8. The next year was even better – a Lionel train whose sleek black engine could puff smoke and race around the track, pulling an orange boxcar, a silver tanker car and a bright red caboose. I would let out a cry but secretly thrill to see it leave the tracks when I raced it around a curve at too high a speed.

We often had a white Christmas where I grew up, the yard carpeted with thick snow, icicles clinging to window frames and the roof, and my mother sowing the...