Family Celebrations: Poems, Toasts, and Traditions for Every Occasion
By June Cotner and Nancy Tupper Ling
4/5
()
About this ebook
June Cotner
June Cotner is the author of the celebrated Graces, Bedside Prayers, Get Well Wishes, Animal Blessings and Family Celebrations. She lives with her husband, two wayward dogs, and two stray cats in Poulsbo, Washington, just outside of Seattle.
Read more from June Cotner
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Reviews for Family Celebrations
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Family Celebrations by June Cotner & Nancy Tupper Ling is a charming collection of toasts, poems, blessings, and other traditions organised by occasion. These range from meal graces to holidays to major life points, and everything between. This book is perfect when you need some quick inspiration. It's not bound by one religion or spirituality, which I liked. Aside from the proverbs and quotes, the rest can be tailored to your individual needs. ***Many thanks to the Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Book preview
Family Celebrations - June Cotner
also by june cotner
Amazing Graces
Animal Blessings
Baby Blessings
Back to Joy
Bedside Prayers
Bless the Beasts
Bless the Day
Christmas Blessings
Comfort Prayers
Dog Blessings
Earth Blessings
Forever in Love
Garden Blessings
Get Well Wishes
Graces
Gratitude Prayers
Heal Your Soul, Heal the World
The Home Design Handbook
House Blessings
Looking for God in All the Right Places
Miracles of Motherhood
Mothers and Daughters
Pocket Prayers
Say a Little Prayer: A Journal
Serenity Prayers
Soar! Follow Your Dreams
Teen Sunshine Reflections
Toasts: The Perfect Words for Every Occasion
To Have and to Hold
We Are Women
Wedding Blessings
Wishing You Well
also by nancy tupper ling
Character
Coming Unfrozen
Double Happiness
Laughter in My Tent: A Woman’s
Search for Family
My Sister, Alicia May
The Story I’ll Tell
Toasts: The Perfect Words for Every Occasion
The Yin-Yang Sisters and the Dragon Frightful
from june cotner:
For my family and my friends—
two of life’s greatest blessings
from nancy tupper ling:
For my father, Russell L. Tupper,
who showed unconditional love to all
Soli Deo Gloria
contents
Letter to Readers
Thanks
All-Occasion Toasts
Graces & Mealtimes
Prayers & Blessings
Birthdays
Weddings
Babies & Christenings
Anniversaries
Graduations
Housewarmings
Family Reunions
Memorial Services
Holidays
New Year
Valentine’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day
Passover
Easter
Mother’s Day
Memorial Day
Father’s Day
Fourth of July
Labor Day
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Chanukah
Christmas
Kwanzaa
Appreciating Siblings
Family Traditions
Everyday Joys
Special
Legacies
Benedictions
Author Index
Permissions and Acknowledgments
About the Co-Authors
letter to readers
We gather in gratitude—
May our present, past and future
Be honored and blessed.
May we, as family,
Be stitched together as
One heart, one home—
One everlasting love.
annie dougherty
In many ways, Annie Dougherty’s blessing reflects the essence of my latest anthology. Family Celebrations is a collection of poems and graces, toasts, and blessings, along with family traditions, all stitched together in love. The selections cultivate gratefulness for family life and bring a freshness and appreciation for one’s own faith, while nurturing and enriching the family bond. The carefully chosen words speak to the heart and to the soul.
The idea for Family Celebrations originated three years ago when I discussed the concept with my Toasts co-author, Nancy Tupper Ling. We felt it would be important to compile a book that could be used by families for everyday graces and special occasions. We wanted the book to offer selections for family celebrations such as birthdays and graduations; weddings and christenings; and meaningful prayers for memorial services. Here you’ll find over 240 pieces for every family gathering. The selections are inspiring, uplifting, and fitting for most faith traditions. My desire was to create a diverse work by blending both contemporary authors such as Amma, Barbara Crooker, Lori Eberhardy, Susan J. Erickson, Charles Ghigna, and Arlene Gay Levine with traditional favorites including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Khalil Gibran, Dag Hammarskjöld, Rumi, and William Shakespeare. Each one is suitable to be read aloud. How exciting it will be to discover new family traditions that may soon become your own!
With Toasts: The Perfect Words to Celebrate Every Occasion I shared co-authorship with Nancy Tupper Ling. I am thrilled to be combining talents again for Family Celebrations. Nancy is an author, poet, and librarian whose children’s picture books have been published by Lee and Low Books (The Story I’ll Tell), Chronicle Books (Double Happiness), and will be forthcoming with Penguin Young Readers (The Yin-Yang Sisters and the Dragon Frightful). She won the 2005 Writer’s Digest Grand Prize for her poem White Birch.
Chosen from over 18,000 selections, her entry was the first time a poem won over all other categories, including screenplays, short stories, and nonfiction.
Our hope is for all of us to gather in gratitude
and treasure our loved ones through Family Celebrations. May these inspiring words bless you and your family and bring more love and closeness to your family gatherings and everyday life.
To families everywhere!
June Cotner
(www.junecotner.com)
Nancy Tupper Ling
(www.nancytupperling.com)
thanks
As co-authors, Nancy and I are deeply grateful to our agents, Anne Marie O’Farrell and Denise Marcil at Marcil-O’Farrell Literary, who helped us shape our book into content that would appeal to a wide range of families. We would also like to thank Melissa Rhodes, our editor, and all the staff at Andrews McMeel Publishing for everything they do, from designing beautiful book packages, to successfully placing our books in bookstores and retail shops around the country.
In addition to reading submissions from over 900 writers and poets who contribute on a regular basis to my anthologies, we read hundreds more potential selections from writers who found us via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and various online writing groups. This book would not exist without the hundreds of writers who submitted to Family Celebrations. We appreciate the gifts of creativity you have offered throughout this book! Your original language and fresh ideas for family traditions will be a gift to families everywhere.
Nancy and I are so thankful for our family and friends who offer encouragement for our writing projects and inspire us daily by the lives they live. The impetus behind Family Celebrations was to honor and celebrate families. We hope we have succeeded.