When she left, Anita took Mom's valise, the round one with the wooden handle from Eaton's department store. Mom was furious. She'd had it on hold at the store for weeks while she earned enough to pay ... [+]
Cakes and pies back with love: a recipe for hope in hard times
Alvin Hall is a television and radio broadcaster, a financial educator and best-selling author. In January 2023, his book, Driving the Green Book, was published by HarperOne. Alvin created and hosted a podcast series the same name, produced by Macmillan Podcasts. The series received the 2021 inaugural Ambie Award for the Best History Podcast and the 2021 New York Festivals Gold Award for Best Narrative Documentary Podcast. His children's book, Show Me the Money, has been published in 20 foreign language editions.
Christmas presents always took a back seat to certain Christmas foods when I was growing up. My parents gave each child only two presents. When we were young, they were a toy (usually something related to comic book or cartoon figures that fascinated us) and an item of clothing to wear to Sunday services. (In the community where I grew up, wearing really nice, crisply ironed clothing to church on Sundays was mandatory—a sign of respect.) When we got older, the standard Christmas presents became two items of clothing: one for school and one for church.While we enjoyed the surprise of the presen