When you live hundreds of miles away from an aging loved one, there is a constant level of anxiety over his or her welfare. Every family must make their own decisions about how to handle situation. Dr. Mary Pipher, in her book Another Country, Navigating Emotional Terrain of our Elders makes a convincing argument for having aging parent(s) move near adult child who will, or currently handles their financial or care decisions. It is an option that should be given much consideration. Be sure to have a contact person who lives close to parent periodically checking on their health and cognitive status. Better yet, also have someone who can act upon your and her or his behalf until you can.

"As far as I was concerned, one of best parts of Christmas was going out with my dad to cut a Christmas tree. We had small stands of pine trees planted around farm to stop soil erosion. We would walk around until we found a nice tree, and then we would cut it and bring it home," Ralph recalled.

Ralph's book, Christmas In Dairyland (True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm) (copyright 2003; ISBN1-59113-366-1 ; trade paperback; 153 pages; $13.95), features 20 stories set on her family's farm during Christmas season. Story titles include "The Lefse Connection," "Milkweed Pods and Poinsettias," "Wintergreen," "White Christmas," "Jeg Er Sa Glad Hver Julekveld," "The Most Perfect Toboggan," "A Candle for Christmas," and "A New Year Unlike Any Other." The book also includes recipes for lefse, fattigman (a Norwegian cookie, pronounced 'futty-mun'), julekake, and Christmas cookies, as well as instructions for making candles out of old crayons, as featured in story "A Candle for Christmas."

"Several years ago a story of mine about my dad making ice cream was published in an e-mail newsletter. The title of story was 'Dad's Favorite Recipe,' and for several weeks after that I received e-mails asking for recipe. That's why I decided to include recipes in book for some of foods mentioned in my stories," Ralph explained.

Ralph earned an undergraduate degree in English with a writing emphasis from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and also earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from UW-Whitewater. She taught English at a boys' boarding school for several years and worked as a newspaper reporter for more than eight years. She is a freelance writer for two weekly newspapers in west central Wisconsin and is editor of Wisconsin Regional Writer, quarterly publication of Wisconsin Regional Writers' Assoc.

For more information about Christmas In Dairyland (True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm), visit http://ruralroute2.com. The book also can be ordered through any brick-and-mortar bookstore.