Sheila Seiler Lagrand

Art Historian and Los Angeles native Margot, her pastor husband Paul, and his mother, Ruth, are spending their first Christmas in Mitchell, the small town in California’s central valley they’ve been called to serve. Ruth suffers from Alzheimer’s and Margot cares for her. Eager to be accepted in the rural community, “city girl” Margot happily agreed to decorate their historic parsonage in a Nativity theme as part of the women’s club’s annual Christmas Home Tour. After all, Estelle Delsey, the stodgy old widow who has installed herself as Mitchell’s ultimate arbiter of taste and standing in the community, made it clear that the parlor display of the large pieces, hand-carved by the town’s very first pastor, was required. In her efforts to fit in, Margot even agrees to bake Mrs. Delsey’s famous butter cookies to serve during the tour.

 But when Ruth confuses Christmas with the Fourth of July, Margot must choose: Does she fulfill her promise to Mrs. Delsey or humor her mother-in-law’s confusion? With some help from Paul and from her next-door-neighbor and best friend Sue, Margot is determined to honor Mitchell’s Christmas tradition and her mother-in-law. A series of surprises punctuate the day, leading to some soul-searching and a rare rebuke from her adoring husband. By the time a surprising twist ends the remarkable day, she is reminded that when she honors God, the other details seem to work themselves out.

Sheila Seiler Lagrand, Ph.D. is a lifelong Californian currently living in the rural foothills of Orange County with her husband, Rich, and two dogs.  An anthropologist by training, she is fascinated by people’s relationships to one another and to God. Her work has appeared recently in two volumes Chicken Soup for the Soul and in Wounded Women of the Bible. You can find her blog, Godspotting with Sheila, at http://sheilalagrand.com. Her family has walked the long, painful path of dementia with beloved family members. She offers this story in their honor.