We enjoyed some beautiful winter sunsets leading up to this Christmas.

More photos of the sky and of nature can be seen here.

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

– Saint Francis of Assisi

I have been collecting quotes over the last couple of years, and this one is one of my favorites. Saint Francis of Assisi’s perfect imagery affirms the universal truth that light, however small and feeble, can dispel and overcome darkness, however overwhelming, and that the power of good ultimately defeats the malicious willfulness of evil. The sustainability and hope of the human race rest upon this innate knowing which God plants in our soul. 

During this Christmas and New Year holidays, we enjoyed candlelight of different kinds in our home. We recently discovered two American candle companies who make all their products by hand in the USA: Village Candles in Maine and Mole Hollow Candles in Massachusetts. We love the delightful appearances and long-lastingness of these hand-dipped and hand-poured candles. They also burn cleanly with little smoke and come with such intoxicating scents as sandalwood, spring garden, summer nights, patchouli, Cape Cod cranberry, tea rose, ginger and clove, winter white, winter fruits, cinnamon and spice, to give just a few examples.

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This holiday season was a period of intense housekeeping and cooking because Jacob had a long 6-week break and we suddenly needed a lot more groceries and food around. We tried cooking a variety of main dishes of both Asian and American origins. For desserts, we made blueberry pies, apple crisp, lemon cookies and pumpkin cookies. Cooking ended up being quite tiring; however, I derived some strangely enjoyable experiences from making something wholesome and delicious with my own hands to partake with those I love.

In between cooking and eating, we read our books

and watched Death in Paradise.

We also took photos of the afternoon sunlight reflecting on our walls and on the ordinary objects in our home.

For New Year, we went to Mass to celebrate the Holy Solemnity of Mary, a Catholic day of obligation.

Although filled with good food and domestic coziness, this holiday season was not without its hardship and challenges. One hardship was David’s exhaustion and shock from the recent change in his investment firm from Edward Jones to Commonwealth. David had worked at Edward Jones for 11 years and the change was traumatic for him in various ways. He had to learn an entirely new system at the new firm and get to know a whole new set of colleagues. David really needed this holiday to take a break from everything in order to reset. What helped him recover from all the dramatic events and tumultuous emotions was just to sit in his comfortable armchair and to sleep. When he was not eating, reading and spending time with us, he slept. Indeed, he slept on and off throughout the holiday season this year.

Another hardship came in the form of Jacob’s college application deadlines. We had been researching, planning and working towards narrowing down Jacob’s college options for a few years, and things came to a head this holiday season with all application deadlines being between January 1st and January 12th. It was quite stressful for David and me to try to manage Jacob, keep house, cook and help him complete all the college applications. He doesn’t enjoy writing, so he was unhappy about all the essays and short answers that he had to write for this process. It was a daily struggle for David and me to not only keep him on task but also to inspire him to express himself eloquently in writing. He couldn’t comprehend why universities would want to know about his personality, his thoughts and especially his aspirations.

Some universities allow family members or peers to write an essay/letter to recommend the applicants, so I wrote this about Jacob:

Dear Admissions Committee,
I hesitated to write this letter of recommendation for Jacob. Almost certainly, a mother’s character reference for her son would not be taken seriously. Nevertheless, it dawned on me that this letter will be of help to the admissions committee in seeing Jacob as a vivid character with a unique background. Possibly more so than could be depicted by grades, test scores, course names
and academically written materials. I also realized that I am in the best position to write this as someone who has seen Jacob go through both good and tough times all his life thus far.

Jacob is an unassuming young man blessed with such mental and spiritual qualities as intelligence, inquisitiveness, understanding, conscientiousness, modesty, sincerity, sensitivity, creativity and a witty sense of humor. Unusual for someone so young, he is an attentive listener who possesses an old soul and a mature outlook on life. An example of this is Jacob’s interest in and capable participation in adult conversations with his parents about such diverse topics as politics, history, psychology, philosophy, morality and religion. Beside his keen interests in ideas and human nature, Jacob has a lifelong interest in science and esoteric knowledge. As a family, we are not consumers of mainstream American entertainment. We only watch a limited selection of American and British old-fashioned television series and classic movies. In the evening, we prefer spending time together reading and conversing about matters truly important to our lives. Jacob has spent many quiet evenings of his life until now reading non-fiction books about history, scientific history, military history and neuroscience. It would impress me to see him at 10 years old peruse thick Encyclopedias on science and on the universe that would be strenuous for adults to tackle.

As a high school student at Campbellsville High School and then at the Gatton
Academy of Mathematics and Science, beside enriching his math and science knowledge, Jacob also became interested in classic works in world literature by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley and Leo Tolstoy. In addition to being intellectually curious, Jacob is artistically creative, adventurous and knows how to appreciate the simple joys in life. In his free time, together with reading, he makes drawings and composes electronic instrumental music on his keyboard and on GarageBand. He recently created a short video called “Evening rain” using one of his original music pieces and a video clip of rain drops rhythmically hitting a windowpane. He also enjoys walking, spending time in nature and traveling. We try to travel as often as possible as a family to explore the United States and the various natural landscapes on this continent. It is important for us to learn about the history of this fascinating country and appreciate the natural beauty we are blessed with here.

If admitted, I believe that Jacob will be a valuable asset to the community of scholars, researchers and dreamers at your institution. If you would like more information, please let me know. My email address and phone number are listed below.

We wish you all a blessed 2025.