Brad Feld

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Christmas Morning with The Velveteen Rabbit

Dec 25, 2015
Category Books

Velveteen Rabbit on Christmas MorningIt’s a beautiful almost snowy morning in Boulder. Crisp and cold, but subdued. Amy is on the phone with a cousin, Brooks is asleep on the floor, and Cooper is whining a little every now and then but generally happy to be on his tether chilling out after running around the yard like a maniac puppy for 30 minutes.

For many years, Christmas time was difficult for me. With the help of my amazing wife, I adjusted my attitude about five years ago and in 2012 wrote a long post about it titled Christmas Isn’t Awesome For Everyone. Christmas still isn’t awesome for me, but I now have a mellow, relaxed time for the last two weeks of the year.

Amy and I celebrated Jewish Christmas by going to see The Force Awakens followed by a quick dinner at Tasty Asia in Longmont. We then came home and finished movie night by watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Perfect.

Yesterday, Danielle Morrill, the CEO of Mattermark who, with her husband Kevin, have become good friends over the past year Slacked me with:

“Not sure if you ever read this book, but my parents gave it to me as a kid and it is something I like to read out loud with them on Christmas https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/williams/rabbit/rabbit.html

I vaguely remember reading The Velveteen Rabbit as a kid 45 or so years ago. I knew the story was about a boy and his toy rabbit, but I didn’t remember anything else. I just finished reading it and it brought tears of happiness to the corners of my eyes. It’s a wonderful childrens story that the inner child in any person can enjoy.

If you’ve got young kids, consider trying what Danielle and her parents now do every Christmas and read The Velveteen Rabbit out loud together.

And – Danielle and Kevin – thanks for being part of my life in 2015. It’s been a joy working and becoming friends with the two of you.