Deborah Crow
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thread 1/8
#ThreadChallenge My father was a master at adapting and making something out of nothing. I remember one year as a 14 year old having just moved into the boonies from the city. My parents struggled to find work in the rural areas because while we lived a middle income bedroom city, out in the
03:53 PM - May 15, 2023
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Deborah Crow
A
thread 2/8
#ThreadChallenge sticks with few buildings and businesses located elsewhere, their skills were out of place. Dad worked for a real popular RV salesman and mom worked temporary assignments. Our Christmases before were pretty loaded. I got a 10 speed bike the Christmas before our move for example.
03:55 PM - May 15, 2023
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Deborah Crow
A
thread 3/8
#ThreadChallenge . We moved to the rural area in the middle of the year, so my parents had roughly 6 mos before Christmas and my sibs and I expected greatness. We were disappointed. We had no money for anything, no tree (we had lights and pretty baubles), no gifts loaded beneath. Dad had a plan.
03:59 PM - May 15, 2023
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Deborah Crow
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thread 4/8
#ThreadChallenge After our family meeting where we were told it wouldn't be the Christmas we were used to, I told my parents that it was okay, it wasn't about the gifts anyway, it was the family, the dinner, the true meaning of Christmas meaning love and togetherness. I was a sappy teen.
04:02 PM - May 15, 2023
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Deborah Crow
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thread 5/8
#ThreadChallenge Now in our back yard we had this huge towering pine tree with the boughs at the bottom reaching 10 feet in length. These were huge. My dad took 3 of the hugest most healthiest boughs and fashioned them into a wreath. He wrapped lights and hung the decorations on it.
04:04 PM - May 15, 2023
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Deborah Crow
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thread 6/8
#ThreadChallenge The smell of pine sap filled the house. The wreath hung large in our huge living room window. At night dad plugged it in. It was gorgeous, bright, cheery and we didn't miss the tree. We made hand made gifts like the days of old and that Christmas more than 40 years later
04:06 PM - May 15, 2023
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Deborah Crow
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thread 7/8
#ThreadChallenge stood out as the best Christmas ever and one I remember as being one of the closest we as a family got. Mom and Dad always made everything from scratch for the holidays, however for this one Christmas, it served as a meaningful reminder of how our ancestors celebrated Christmas.
04:11 PM - May 15, 2023
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Deborah Crow
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thread 8/8
#ThreadChallenge Not an exact replica, ours was unique, with lights hung with fishing wire in the window out in rural America and I couldn't find anything like that on Google. This looked close enough.
04:27 PM - May 15, 2023
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Gabe McGrath
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Hello CCL,

A quick note to say that I really enjoyed your story.

I'm an imperfect dad. Kids 13 and 11. We are not poor, but I would hope to echo some of the good work your father did in a challenging situation.

Thanks for sharing. And good luck with the Thread challenge.
In response to Deborah Crow.
06:10 AM - Jun 08, 2023
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