Our mother Loretta, aka “Lolly Christmas”, passed away this week and we are heartbroken. Our “Lolly” had been battling the horrible, and progressive, neurodegenerative disease ALS. It is a terrible and absolutely unfair disease to live and die with, and we wish she hadn’t experienced that struggle.

Throughout her illness, one where you lose your voice and your mobility — among so many more things, “Lolly” never lost her love for God, her love for her family, and her love for Christmas. When she said #StayMerry, she meant it. Every time. We found ways to make even the hardest days merry.

In honor of Mom, LollyChristmas.com will continue. She always called us her “little elves” and “Lolly’s helpers” as she raised us with the continuous spirit of Christmas, and she loved celebrating the holidays with all of you all year, every year. Things might be slow for the next couple of weeks, but we will continue to spread cheer the way she did every day of her life.

We had created a GoFundMe this past spring to raise money for adaptive devices and treatments for her, but had fallen short of our goals. We’re still seeking donations to go towards assisting in her final arrangements and the financial stresses left for our family. No donation is too small, so if you’re interested in supporting, please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/care-for-loretta.

If you prefer to donate via PayPal, please email us at lolly@lollychristmas.com for more information.

Thank you and Stay Merry,
Courtney and Chanelle

Graphic by LollyChristmas.com

There are officially 100 Days Until Christmas! That sounds like a long time, but believe us when we say it isn’t. The season will fly by, so we urge you to take each moment as it comes. Enjoy all of the cheer the entire holiday season has to offer… no matter how big or little that cheer is. ✨🎄✨

The Christmas movies will begin airing on Hallmark on Friday, October 22nd, and we can’t wait to share more info on all of the new films as they are made official. Let’s hope we learn more later today given the milestone we’ve hit. *fingers crossed*

Another way we’d like to honor the 100 day mark is to celebrate Lolly Christmas herself. If you read the latest post, the namesake of our website, is battling the motor neuron disease ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis aka Lou Gehrig’s disease), and we have created a GoFundMe to raise money for adaptive devices and treatments to help her in this fight. If you’d like to give back in honor of the holiday season — or because you’ve enjoyed the merriment Lolly has spread this past decade, then we ask that you please donate to her cause. If you’re unable to donate, please still share her GoFundMe on social media and with anyone you know; your church bulletin board, your community, etc. Every little bit helps and there’s strength in numbers. Click here to view the fundraiser!

We hope you #StayMerry today and every day that you’re blessed to be given. ✨🎄✨

Lolly’s Song of the Day: TobyMac – “Bring On The Holidays”

It has been 10 years since LollyChristmas.com was created. The website was created with Lolly herself — a nickname given to our Mother, Loretta, when she was very young, however, what was initially meant to be her holiday blog became a place where my sister and I could celebrate the love of the holiday season right alongside our super festive Mom… all year long.

LollyChristmas.com is now a family-run website that allows us to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year, and share our love of the holiday season with people all over the world.  We hope it will continue for many years to come, but in the meantime, our holiday cheer has taken a hit.

Our Mom… our “Lolly”… was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis aka Lou Gehrig’s disease), which is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord; ALS causes you to lose the ability to walk, use your hands, eat, talk and breathe.

While she can still enjoy listening to Christmas music, at this point, Lolly is more than 75% paralyzed; she can not walk, talk or eat, and has lost most function in her hands. We (her “little elves”) have started a #Care4Loretta GoFundMe fundraiser to help ease her stress when it comes to finances, and we’re in desperate need of adaptive devices, surgeries and treatments requiring specialists, and other supplies to help her during this incredibly traumatic illness.

According to the ALS Association, $250,000
is the estimated out-of-pocket cost for caring for a person with ALS.

The holidays are quickly approaching — our favorite time of year, but this year it’s clouded with sadness, stress and uncertainty.  We’d like for “Lolly” to not to worry about anything more than spending time with her family, who love her so much, and getting her treatments.   If you’re able, we ask that you please donate. We also ask that you share the fundraiser link on your social media or with anyone you personally know. There’s strength in numbers.

The direct link is: https://www.gofundme.com/f/care-for-loretta

Thank you for reading this, and in keeping with Lolly’s motto: Stay Merry!

Merry Wishes,
Lolly’s Daughter Elves