SUGAR AND SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE!!!!

by June Davidio-Gagliardo

Well here we are several weeks before the Holidays. So, I thought this would be an appropriate time to share what Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice means to me at this time of year. When someone walks into my home this time of year, I want them to smell cookies baking and memories start to swirl in their heads; but most importantly in their hearts. I want them to remember that favorite cookie they smelled on their grandma or Mom’s clothes when they hugged them. Close your eyes and stand still for a moment and take in the memories you’ve placed on hold for such a long time. As your mind starts to remember these childhood traditions and memories I want them to hear the voices and laughter of those who have moved on or passed over.

So, you see, Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice is more than just a cute saying this time of year, it has the power to unlocks all of those warm and heartfelt things that we have forgotten to remember… it comes with memories of the things that we carry and who and what contributed to who we are today. I’m sharing my thoughts with you as a reminder not to forget to share your Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice memories with your children, your families, and your friends. It is your words, your memories, and your expressions of those days and holidays, gone by, that will forever keep the Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice stored in your heart forever.

As I share with you one of the most beautiful moments of my holiday with you, the memories of just being married brings a smile to my heart. I was pregnant and about ready to have our first child any day. My husband was working two jobs just to make ends meet. We discussed how we would not be able to buy each other a gift that year, and we were fine with that. Together, we decorated our Christmas tree. We had very few decorations, so I made most of them. Our tree was beautiful. When we woke up that Christmas morning the air in the house still smelled like cookies and candy. On that Christmas morning under the tree, there were two gifts… one for me and one for my husband. As I opened my gift, it was an ornament that was handwritten “soon to be MOM’S first Christmas.” I started to cry. Not only because the gift was handmade and given genuinely from my husband’s heart, but I was very hormonal as well. Lol. Then he opened my gift to him. It was a picture frame that we had gotten for a shower gift, I wrote, “inside this frame will soon be a picture of me and my new baby.” I said to my husband I thought we weren’t going to buy anything for each other, and he commented “We didn’t. We made gifts for each other.” This is a true heartwarming memory that to this day when I bake Christmas cookies I still remember the wonder of that morning.

In all the years we were married, whenever I baked Christmas cookies I thought of those gifts. Those two gifts were the best gifts I remember giving and receiving in all of my years with my husband. You see, for me Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice, at this time of year warms my heart and my soul and makes me feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world to have that love and memory.

I leave you with this quote: “Behind you are all your memories. Before you are all your dreams. Around you are all who love you. Within you is all you need.” (Unknown)

Stay Safe. Stay Strong. Stay Fearless.