This year, Americans spent a record 52.4 billion dollars over Black Friday Weekend. Cyber Monday exceeded industry expectations, producing 1.2 billion dollars in online sales. Amidst the cash flow reports of Christmastime, it’s easy to forget the true meaning of the season.
One culture immune to the commercialization of Christmas is the Amish. During these hectic days, they pledge allegiance to their core values, including family, gratitude and love.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania is a town known for its Amish community. The new fiction book, A Lancaster County Christmas is an enjoyable read that embodies the essence of the season:
Twenty-five-year-old Jaime Fitzpatrick visits the doctor to renew a sleeping pill prescription. She’s been despondent since her mother’s death last summer, killed by a drunk driver.
In the waiting room, she befriends six-year-old Amish boy, Danny Riehl. He’s there with his father, Solomon (Sol), and mother Mattie (Mathilda Zook Riehl) for Mattie’s follow-up exam after suffering her miscarriage.
Leaving her appointment, the doctor asks Jaime to deliver Danny’s forgotten wooden toy whistle, to the Riehl farm. She agrees.
It’s two days before Christmas, and Jaime and her husband C.J. (Charles Joseph), are preparing to travel to New York City. There they’ll board a flight to Miami to join Jaime’s elusive, smooth-talking father on a Caribbean cruise. He’s lured them there with his “surprise” announcement.
During heavy snowfall, the couple (along with Tucker, C.J.’s beloved yellow Labrador retriever) is driving in Jaime’s fire engine red convertible. They’re en route to present Danny’s toy whistle, before departing Stoney Ridge in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Tucker bounds out of the car to follow Jaime as she delivers Danny’s whistle. C.J. runs after Tucker, as the vehicle’s tail end slides into the nearby pond. The Fitzpatricks’ stay with the Riehls’, while they ponder a way to retrieve their car from the water. What follows is an expose of human emotions, including jealousy, lust and ultimately, joy, as the characters rediscover the true meaning of the season.
Meeting Mattie, Jaime learns that she recently miscarried; and yearns for more children. Jaime longs for her mother’s presence, which she knows isn’t possible.
Jealousy befalls both women for different reasons. Mattie shamefully finds herself envious of her friend, Carrie Miller’s newborn daughter. “The baby was even named Mathilda after Mattie-and yet she felt something close to bitterness toward Carrie.”
Jaime is sure C.J, (a middle school math teacher), is cheating on her with a woman at work, named Eve. She bakes brownies for C.J. and stays late for after school conversation: “Jaime took a deep breath. “She was glad she wasn’t facing him. “And Eve? Do you love her too?”
Zach is Mattie’s seventeen-year-old nephew staying with her family since Mattie’s brother ousted him for not choosing the church after experiencing his Rumspringa (the one-year Amish tradition for teens when they encounter modern-day life before deciding if they’ll perpetually join the community).
Hiding an old car for transportation and engaging in Fancy folk traditions, including drinking, Zach realizes he’s attracted to Jaime. Sol warns Zach about his lust for their houseguest: “He saw Zach’s eyes follow Jaime as she walked into the darkness. “Zachary,” he said firmly. “No.”
Sol also fears Zach’s influence on Danny, who adores his cousin and spends much time with him.
During the Fitzpatrick’s visit, Danny and Tucker go missing amidst the cold, darkening, snowy day. What follows is each character reexamining their existence, acceptance of God’s will, and authentic appreciation for the season of Christmas.
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Amish Christmas Fiction: A Lancaster County Christmas by Suzanne Woods Fisher - Authentic Rebirths
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