Biden family Christmas photo draws mixed reactions over framing and placement
Former President Joe Biden shared a family photo on social media on Christmas Eve, sparking online criticism after he appeared partially visible in the image while son Hunter stood front and center.
The photo shows several members of the Biden family standing in front of a decorated Christmas tree, with Hunter positioned prominently in the foreground.
Former first lady Jill Biden is also in the image, standing in front of the former president with her head partially obstructing his face. All other family members appear fully framed and clearly visible.
In the X post accompanying the image, Biden wrote, “Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Christmas Eve filled with joy.”
INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS CARD TRADITION – FROM COOLIDGE TO TRUMP
The post did not address the framing of the photo, and representatives for Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The image circulated widely on social media following its release, with users commenting on the positioning and composition of the family members shown.
One person posted a close-up of Biden’s face, writing, “Took me a while to find ya, champ.”
TRUMP LISTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, SAYS ‘RADICAL LEFT SCUM’ ARE ‘FAILING BADLY’ IN CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
Another commenter wrote, “I think it’s disrespectful to put the eldest family member in the back of a photo taken for the former president’s social media.”
Appearing to compare the image to a Where’s Waldo? scene, one person wrote, “Where’s Joe?“
Another user asked Biden in the comments, “Why are you in the back, blocked by Jill?”
TRUMP AND FIRST LADY GO ALL BLACK FOR OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT PHOTO
Other users questioned why Hunter was positioned so prominently in the photo, with some comments focusing specifically on his placement.
One person wrote, “Hunter is the alpha now.”
Additional posts shared altered versions of the image, depicting Hunter either shirtless or with a white substance under his nose.
“Wishing you and your entire family (specially your son) a white Christmas,” one user wrote.
Not all the comments were critical of the photo or the former president.
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One person wrote, “Wishing you and your family a peaceful and joyful Christmas. Your strength and love inspire us all.”
Another added, “Wishing you a peaceful Christmas Eve too, Mr. President. Let’s hope the spirit of goodwill extends into the new year and helps bridge some of the divides we’ve seen. The image is a nice reminder of simpler times.”
Several others shared similar sentiments, including a message that said, “Merry Christmas to the whole Biden family!”
Father allegedly shoots family after wife asked him to turn off 49ers game
A Florida man shot and killed his wife and shot his stepdaughter earlier this week before fatally shooting himself after an argument over an NFL game, authorities said.
Jason Kenney, 47, took his own life hours after killing his wife, Crystal Kenney, Dec. 22, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference.
Judd said the murder occurred after Crystal Kenney suggested to her husband that he turn off Monday’s NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts.
FLORIDA MAN FACING DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING 18-YEAR-OLD GIRLFRIEND, UNBORN CHILD AFTER SHE REFUSED ABORTION
Jason Kenney had been drinking, and the argument escalated, prompting his wife to tell her 12-year-old son to call 911.
The boy ran to a neighbor’s home when he heard gunshots. Responding deputies found Crystal Kenney dead and a 13-year-old girl who had been shot in the shoulder and face.
She is recovering in a hospital.
“She said, ‘I begged him, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, and he shot me anyway,’” Judd said.
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The boy was unharmed, as was Jason and Crystal’s 1-year-old daughter, who was home at the time of the shooting. She was found by deputies asleep in her crib.
After the shooting, Jason Kenney fled and called his sister, who lives in upstate New York, Judd said. He told her he had “done something” wrong and that it would be the last time they would talk.
He then drove to his father’s home, where deputies found him. As deputies attempted to get him out of a shed, Jason fatally shot himself, Judd said.
During a search of the family’s home, deputies found a note Crystal wrote to her husband urging him to get help.
“You’re drinking, you’re using cocaine again. This is not the way the family should be. You need God,” the note states, Judd said.
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The surviving children are in the custody of grandparents.
“The entire family was destroyed,” Judd said. “Our homicide detectives are distraught. When you go in there, there is a beautiful Christmas tree with lots of Christmas presents under it, just like the nuclear family should be.”
Santa and Mrs. Claus avoid coal after traffic stop with gun permit surprise
Santa almost landed on the naughty list, but no coal was issued.
An older couple dressed as St. Nick and Mrs. Claus were pulled over for speeding in Ohio while traveling to visit their daughter.
A deputy with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office approached the vehicle and immediately became starstruck.
OHIO KIDS AS YOUNG AS 8 STEAL CAR, LEAD POLICE ON CHASE CRASH INTO HOME, WORRIED ABOUT SANTA, PRESENTS: POLICE
“Santa,” the deputy is heard saying while laughing, according to bodycam footage released by the sheriff’s office.
The man dressed as St. Nick told the deputy he has a “CCW,” a permit for a concealed carry weapon.
“Santa has a CCW?” the deputy replied. “Times are rough.”
“You got to protect yourself,” Santa said.
The deputy asked the bearded driver for his driver’s license and explained that he pulled him over for speeding.
GUN JAMS AS SHOPLIFTING SUSPECT TRIES TO SHOOT OHIO POLICE OFFICER AT POINT-BLANK RANGE IN WILD BODYCAM VIDEO
Santa got out of the vehicle, noting that he was “100 years old” as he struggled to exit the vehicle.
“Santa, slow your speed down,” the deputy said.
“It’s Nick, you know!” Mrs. Claus said from the passenger seat.
“I’ll get Rudolph on you!” Santa told the deputy.
The deputy then asked Santa for a photo. All three then wished one another a Merry Christmas.
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“Ho ho *hold on!* Santa and Mrs. Claus were spotted flying a little too fast through Fulton County. No coal was issued—just a friendly reminder that even sleighs need to slow down. Christmas is still on schedule! Stay safe and happy holidays!” the sheriff’s department wrote on Facebook.
Son says ‘Frosty’ voice actor hid ‘at least’ three families, used tranquilizers
Jackie Vernon voiced one of pop culture’s most beloved, jolly characters. Off-screen, his life was anything but joyful: the stand-up comic had multiple secret families and battled a serious Quaalude addiction.
The shocking truth about the man who famously voiced “Frosty the Snowman” was revealed by his son, David Vernon, in a recent interview on “Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia.”
The star died in 1987 at age 63.
‘IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE’ CHILD STAR SUFFERED A SERIES OF TRAGEDIES AFTER BRINGING CLASSIC HOLIDAY FILM TO LIFE
During the sit-down, David shared that the performer, born Ralph Verrone, had three families before he started a new life with his wife, Hazel. The couple married in 1958 and remained together until his death. They shared three children.
Life at the Vernon household was full of surprises. However, nothing prepared David for a knock at the door one fateful day.
“There was a woman there with a kid who was older than I was,” he recalled on the show. “He was probably in his late teens, and he was a little rough-around-the-edges-looking. And the woman asked to speak to my dad. And I said, ‘My dad’s on the road. He’s not home.’
“And then I remembered she was very firm,” said David. “She’s like, ‘Well, I want to speak to your mother then.’ So, my mom came, and I guess she assessed what the situation was right away, but my mom told me to go upstairs. . . . I heard a somewhat heated conversation going on. And then a couple of minutes later, they left.”
WATCH: THE DARK SECRET BEHIND THE BELOVED VOICE OF ‘FROSTY THE SNOWMAN’
David then confronted his mother.
“I asked my mom, ‘Who was that?’” said David. “And it finally came out that before our family, my dad had been married at least three other times, which I was kind of shocked to find out.”
Vernon found fame playing a series of “lovable losers” on TV shows such as “The Dean Martin Show,” “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “The Merv Griffin Show,” among others, the Los Angeles Times reported. But before showbiz came calling, the performer had other marriages — and other children.
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“One marriage, I think, was when he was in the military, when he was like 19,” said David. “And from these marriages, he had sons, and he named them all Ralph after himself, after his original name, Ralph Verrone. But he also abandoned all these families. He left them, moved on. My mom wasn’t even sure if he had divorced one of the women or was even married to another one.”
“But when my parents were married, they had a deal,” David continued. “She would name the boys, and he could name the girls. She had sort of gotten this idea that a Ralph was an unloved kid — a kid that was left-behind — and she wanted to make sure that I was never going to be a Ralph. That’s when I realized that my mom had this plan that he stayed with our family and didn’t abandon us.”
In later years, Vernon was described as having “sadness that radiated” from him. As his career slowed in the 1970s and ’80s, that sorrow turned into a battle with depression, David said.
WATCH: ‘FROSTY THE SNOWMAN’ EXPOSED: APPARENTLY, THE ONLY THING NOT FROZEN WAS HIS DATING LIFE
“He went through some of his own demons with depression and addiction,” said David. “His addiction was really to tranquilizers — Quaaludes and Valium. It really took a toll on him.”
“He had to work very hard to break free from that depression. It was a hard struggle for him. It was hard for us to see him go through that.”
Vernon voiced Frosty in the 1969 animated special. He reprised the role in “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland” (1976) and “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July” (1979).
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David revealed that his father had strong reservations about taking on the role. The patriarch once quipped, “I guess all the fat guys were out of town.”
“He didn’t take it very seriously,” David explained.
“He didn’t want to do it. He thought it was a little beneath him. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it also wasn’t a lot of work. He didn’t have a lot of confidence in it. I think somebody else had dropped out, and he had the time to do it. He didn’t really prep much for it. He didn’t think about it. He barely told us about it. . . . He thought it was just going to be a little something that aired one year and then totally disappeared and would be scratched off his résumé.”
When “Frosty the Snowman” first aired, Vernon’s children gave it a frosty reception.
“We weren’t impressed,” said David. “. . . But then, at the end, when Frosty melts, that was kind of shocking to us. . . . We weren’t really ready for that. It freaked us out, actually. My younger sister had thought, ‘What? Daddy’s melting? He’s dying.’
“It was kind of pandemonium. She started crying, and she was really upset, and I was kind of confused. And my mom, she was like, ‘Your dad’s OK. He’s not dead. He is at The Playboy Club in Chicago.’ And she had to try to get him on the phone. Later, he called back and reassured us that he was fine.”
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After decades of dismissing Frosty, Vernon grew proud of the role. David shared that it gave his father peace at the end of his life and uplifted his spirit. He found joy knowing his work continued to make audiences smile.
“He had accepted his place in showbiz,” said David. “One of the last Christmases when my dad was still around. . . . We all watched [‘Frosty the Snowman’] together, and he was so proud of it. He enjoyed it. He laughed at it. He was so happy that he had done it, and it became a very warm spot in his heart. And I loved seeing that for him.”
“Even though my dad did so many things — he worked with Judy Garland, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra — [‘Frosty’] was the one thing that people really remembered him for,” he shared.
“And newer generations found it. He really embraced it. He accepted that he was going to be remembered for it, and he was really proud of it. He loved it when kids would come over and talk to him. Every Christmas, friends would ask him to call their kids and do the Frosty voice. It became a real source of pride for him.”
David insisted that his father is never too far away, especially during the holidays.
“Every year — it’s already happened once this year — I’ll go into a CVS or Walgreens, and I’ll hear my dad’s voice,” he said. “It will be that there’s some plush Frosty toy that somebody’s pressed the button on, and I hear him from another aisle. It’s a weird experience, but it’s kind of nice. I feel, like Frosty, he does come back every Christmas.”
Popular painkiller offers little relief, raises serious health risks, study finds
A widely prescribed opioid painkiller showed limited effectiveness and increased risk of negative effects in a new analysis published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
The study examined tramadol, a common prescription opioid used to treat chronic pain.
Tramadol has historically been perceived as a safer or less addictive opioid, which has contributed to its widespread use in chronic pain treatment, the study authors noted.
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“Often, we may use tramadol to avoid more addictive drugs like other opioids, though in fact tramadol is a synthetic opioid. It is much milder,” Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News, told Fox News Digital.
In the new analysis, researchers used data from 19 randomized clinical trials involving 6,506 adults with conditions including osteoarthritis, chronic low back pain, neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. All the studies compared tramadol to a placebo treatment.
Overall, tramadol led to a small decrease in pain, but the amount of relief was less than what is usually considered clinically meaningful, the authors reported.
“It is notable how minimal the pain reduction was and how clearly the study highlighted the elevated risk of serious adverse events, even over relatively short trial durations,” Alopi M. Patel, M.D., pain medicine physician at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York City, told Fox News Digital. (Patel was not involved in the study.)
MORE PEOPLE TURN TO ACUPUNCTURE FOR BACK PAIN AS STUDY SHOWS RELIEF
Participants receiving tramadol experienced a higher risk of adverse events, both serious and non-serious, compared with those receiving a placebo.
Serious adverse events primarily included cardiovascular events, such as chest pain, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. The authors concluded that tramadol likely increases the risk of heart-related issues.
The authors concluded that the benefits of tramadol for chronic pain are small and that the harms likely outweigh the benefits. The findings call into question the use of tramadol for chronic pain conditions, they stated.
Study limitations
Most of the trials included in the analysis were short, with treatment periods ranging from two to 16 weeks and follow-up periods from three to 15 weeks.
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This limited the ability to assess long-term outcomes, the researchers acknowledged.
The authors reported that many outcomes had a high risk of bias, which may have exaggerated the apparent benefits and minimized the reported harms.
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The trials involved several different types of chronic pain, but the data were not detailed enough to draw conclusions for any specific condition. This makes it “harder to generalize the findings to specific patient populations,” noted Patel.
Though the study has value, Siegel said, “looking at slight increased rates of cancer or heart disease among those on the drug is completely misleading, because it is not controlled for other factors and there is no evidence or hint of causation.”
“You would have to first look at underlying characteristics of that group who took the meds.”
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The doctor also pointed out that the study “doesn’t compare [tramadol] with full-on opioids like Percocet.”
Experts emphasize that patients should not stop taking tramadol abruptly, as doing so can lead to withdrawal symptoms. Those looking to change their medication should consult a doctor.
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“I recommend that clinicians and patients engage in transparent, shared decision-making that considers tramadol’s modest benefits alongside its risks,” Patel advised.
Fox News Digital reached out to several manufacturers of tramadol requesting comment.
Beverly D’Angelo reveals improvised moment that became a ‘Christmas Vacation’ classic
Beverly D’Angelo took matters into her own hands and made movie history.
After “National Lampoon’s Vacation” (1983) and “National Lampoon’s European Vacation” (1985), the Griswolds returned to deliver more chaos in 1989’s “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” The film starred D’Angelo and Chevy Chase, along with Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, among others.
D’Angelo is ringing in the new year with plenty in store for fans. She stars alongside Hayden Panettiere in the upcoming 2026 psychological thriller “Sleepwalker.” She recently followed it up with “The Heart Brake,” in which she turns a property into a Christmas bed-and-breakfast called the Noel Hotel.
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But when the holidays roll around, D’Angelo still looks back at the film that keeps on giving — and the moment she made her own.
“It was not in the script for me to guard the family jewels when the police came to stick us up,” the actress told Fox News Digital. “I threw that in. That was definitely improvised. That was my little touch. All in one take.”
In the film, a police officer orders everyone gathered for the Griswold family Christmas to freeze. A stunned Ellen (D’Angelo) suddenly grabs Clark’s (Chase) crotch and stands still, obeying the command.
WATCH: CHEVY CHASE ON HAND TO SUPPORT SYLVESTER STALLONE
“We had one take left, and it was the end of the day,” D’Angelo recalled. “I said, ‘I bet nobody catches this.’ We did the shot, freeze, and I put my hand there. It was like, ‘OK, that’s a wrap. Everybody go home.’ It was subtle. And it had to stay in the film because it was the only shot left! What are they going to do? They didn’t have a choice.”
Chase was in on the joke.
It was a long day of filming, and the star was eager to have some fun. D’Angelo tipped off Chase about what she was going to do. He agreed — before quickly adding, “You can’t do that,” convinced she’d never get away with it, Forbes reported.
“I guarantee you no one’s going to be looking at my hand,” she told him, as quoted by the outlet. “Everybody’s going to be looking at your face and Randy’s [Quaid] face and the expressions. I’m going to be way down below your waist, and the director’s not even looking at me. He’s just trying to get you guys good, get this take.”
It worked — and if you blink, you’ll miss it.
“Well, what would you do in that situation?” D’Angelo told Fox News Digital. “You would guard the family jewels, first and foremost.”
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D’Angelo, 74, noted that she and Chase, 82, became fast friends from the moment they met on set. That bond has endured for decades.
“I knew from the beginning I’d have a lifelong friendship with Chevy,” D’Angelo explained. “It was just like meeting a brother. We’ve kept that connection all the way, decades later. I just had a feeling when we met that we would be a tribe. I can’t explain it, except there’s just something about when Chevy and I get together.”
“There’s a chemistry we can create,” she shared. “We have a chemistry, we get each other. And then, we can easily flip into Clark and Ellen. It’s just something. I can’t explain it. It doesn’t happen with anybody else. He makes me Ellen, and I make him Clark when we work together. It’s very natural. We just know.”
Despite their instant connection, D’Angelo admitted she didn’t expect them to cross paths again after the first film.
“When we did the first ‘Vacation,’ it was just a summer movie,” said D’Angelo. “That concept of a franchise arrived much later. We only made the second one because the first one was such a hit. And then ‘Christmas’ was just as successful as the very first one, which is unusual. So, when I went in to meet Chevy, I just thought I was doing a Chevy Chase comedy that was going to be done after ‘Animal House.’”
“I had some hesitations about it,” she noted. “There are these old rules — never work with kids and animals. And there were a lot of kids and animals. Plus, I was the mother of teenagers, and I was 29 when we did that. I was even suggesting actresses to my agent. ‘Tell them to meet this person, that person.’ Just actress friends that I thought would be good. But it was my husband at the time — I was married to an Italian duke, actually — and he said, ‘But Beverly, this is hilarious! You must do it.’”
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“That was that,” she continued. “I was in Italy when a friend of mine called me, and he said, ‘Do you know you’re in the number one movie this week?’ It was the first ‘Vacation.’ It just kept growing. It seems to be part of our whole culture now. For so many people, it’s part of their Christmas ritual. I don’t know what to say, except to quote myself and say, ‘It’s Christmas. We’re all in misery.’”
Making “Christmas Vacation” wasn’t always easy. It reminded D’Angelo of one of her past rules.
“The squirrel that jumped out of the tree? That squirrel was trained by professional animal trainers,” said D’Angelo about the unforgettable scene from “Christmas Vacation.”
“It was trained to leap out of the tree and onto Chevy’s shoulder, and onto somebody else’s shoulder. It was trained to do all these tricks. They really, really trained it.”
“They did a fantastic job to the point that the squirrel had a heart attack or something,” she claimed. “Something happened to the squirrel. So when it came time to shoot, they had to quickly find another squirrel. They got a relatively wild one, certainly not trained to do all the tricks that the original squirrel had been able to do. So they do have a live squirrel leaping out of the tree, but everything else is a stuffed squirrel.”
However unruly the making of “Christmas Vacation” may have been, D’Angelo knows it’s become a holiday classic — and she’s grateful.
“Here’s the thing about Christmas,” she said. “Of course, when you have children, it becomes important. I was never a big holiday person, per se. I don’t even like to celebrate my birthday, to tell you the truth. I don’t like all the attention. But it’s that spirit of giving, it’s a wonderful thing to always be engaged in.”
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“I didn’t think that [‘National Lampoon’] was going to turn into a lifelong thing,” she reflected. “It’s beautiful.”
Christmas sides your grandparents served that mostly vanished from holiday tables
Christmas dinner may revolve around a honey-glazed ham or prime rib today, but for generations of Americans, it was the side dishes that truly defined the holiday table.
Long before trendy TikTok foods, freezer-aisle staples and sheet-pan shortcuts, Christmas spreads featured labor-intensive recipes that were passed down and cooked fresh once a year.
Creamed vegetables, piped potatoes and slow-braised winter produce reflected regional roots and Old World traditions.
AMERICANS TURNED CHRISTMAS DINNER INTO PATRIOTIC DUTY DURING WWI WITH WARTIME RECIPES
As tastes shifted, entertaining grew more casual and time became a luxury, many of these classic sides quietly faded from Christmas menus.
Here’s a look at six vintage Christmas side dishes that were once enjoyed by millions — and aren’t truly forgotten.
1. Creamed onions
Once a staple of Christmas dinners across the Northeast and Midwest, creamed onions were traditionally served alongside roast beef or ham as a rich, celebratory side, along with their close cousin, creamed celery.
The dish fell out of favor because peeling pearl onions is labor-intensive and American tastes leaned away from boiled vegetables, though home cooks still debate the best version — fresh, canned or frozen — on Reddit’s r/Cooking page.
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“Creamed onions were a staple,” one user recently recalled. “They were a hit with everyone.”
2. Duchess potatoes
This elegant, piped potato dish originated in 19th-century France and was a popular Christmas showpiece.
Enriched with butter and egg yolks and baked into decorative shapes, duchess potatoes stay fluffy in the center and develop a crisp, golden exterior.
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As holiday entertaining became more casual and convenience foods like instant mashed potatoes took over, duchess potatoes largely vanished from American tables.
3. Braised red cabbage
Sweet-and-sour red cabbage was brought to the U.S. by German, Scandinavian and Danish immigrants and became a familiar Christmas side in many households, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast.
In Denmark, the dish emerged as a Christmas staple in the 1800s during a period of national romanticism, when red cabbage and boiled potatoes were chosen to reflect the red-and-white colors of the Danish flag, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.
4. Spinach soufflé
Spinach soufflés were a mid-century symbol of sophistication for hosts and frequently appeared at Christmas dinners in the 1950s through the 1970s, according to food blogs.
Because they could deflate easily and required careful timing, they gradually fell out of favor as holiday cooking became more focused on easier, less stressful dishes.
5. Yorkshire pudding
This traditional British side is made from a batter of eggs, flour and milk, baked until light and crisp, and historically served with roast beef to soak up drippings.
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It appeared on Christmas menus in the 19th century, according to the food site Epicurious — and while it was once common in American households, it gradually faded from many Christmas tables as roast beef gave way to other holiday mains.
Reddit users recently debated whether Yorkshire pudding belongs again on holiday tables, with one commenter arguing that if beef is the main course, it is “surely required.”
6. Parsnips
Parsnips were once a common winter vegetable before potatoes took over American tables.
Parsnip cakes — a humble British staple introduced to Americans in the early 1900s — remained popular through World War II because the hardy vegetable was easy to grow during rationing, with the mixture baked or fried and enriched with butter or gravy rather than tasting strongly of roots, according to Tasting Table.
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Over time, parsnips fell out of favor — they gained a reputation for bitterness if overcooked, and tastes shifted toward milder, more familiar vegetables.
Emma Heming Willis navigates holiday grief as Bruce Willis’ dementia progresses
Christmas Day brings both joy and heartbreak for Bruce Willis’ wife.
In a deeply personal essay published on her website, Emma Heming Willis opened up about the emotional toll of navigating the holidays since her husband’s dementia diagnosis.
“For me, the holidays carry memories of Bruce being at the center of it all,” the 47-year-old wrote.
BRUCE WILLIS’ WIFE THOUGHT ‘DIE HARD’ ROLE WAS TO BLAME WHEN DEMENTIA SIGNS SURFACED
“He loved this time of year — the energy, the family time, the traditions. He was the pancake maker, the get-out-in-the-snow-with-the-kids guy, the steady presence moving through the house as the day unfolded. There was comfort in the routine of knowing exactly how the day would go, especially since I’m a creature of habit.”
“Dementia doesn’t erase those memories,” the mother of two shared. “But it does create space between then and now. And that space can ache.”
In 2022, Willis’ family announced he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that causes loss of the ability to understand or express speech. Nearly a year later, the family said the actor had received a more specific diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration describes FTD as a group of brain disorders caused by degeneration of the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain, which affects behavior, language and movement, according to The Associated Press. Aphasia can be a symptom of it.
The association describes frontotemporal degeneration as “an inevitable decline in functioning,” with an average life expectancy of seven to 13 years after the onset of symptoms. The progressive disease is terminal, and there is no cure.
“Grief during the holidays can show up in unexpected ways,” wrote Emma. “It can arrive while pulling decorations out of storage, wrapping gifts or hearing a familiar song. It can catch you off guard in the middle of a room full of people, or in the quiet moment when everyone else has gone to bed.”
“I find myself, harmlessly, cursing Bruce’s name while wrestling with the holiday lights or taking on tasks that used to be his,” she wrote. “Not because I’m mad at him — never that — but because I miss the way he once led the holiday charge. Yes, he taught me well, but I’m still allowed to feel annoyed that this is one more reminder of how things have changed.”
The holidays, which once brought “uncomplicated joy,” can now arrive “tangled in a web of grief,” she said.
Emma said one of the hardest parts of the holidays as a caregiver is the expectation to make everything feel “normal,” even as she quietly mourns the life she once shared with her husband.
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“We’re surrounded by images of what the holidays are supposed to look like — perfectly decorated homes, lighthearted gatherings, smiling faces captured in matching pajamas,” she reflected. “Even when we know these images are curated, they can still create a sense of failure and extra loss when our reality doesn’t match. When dementia is part of your family, ‘normal’ becomes a moving target.”
“For a long time, I wanted the holidays to remain exactly as they were, as if this might protect us from what was happening,” Emma wrote. “But I’m learning that flexibility isn’t giving up. It’s adapting. It’s choosing compassion and reality over perfection. It’s understanding that meaning doesn’t live in the size of the gathering or the polish of the day. It lives in presence.”
“Grief is not a sign of ingratitude. It’s a sign of love,” she stressed.
“There’s no denying that the holidays are different now. But different doesn’t mean empty. It doesn’t mean broken. It doesn’t mean devoid of meaning. There is still connection. There is still love. There is still joy to be had. And if this season feels heavy for you, please know that you’re not alone. You’re not doing it wrong. And there is no single ‘right’ way to move through this time of year when dementia is part of your life. There is only your way. And that is enough.”
Over the years, Emma has sought guidance from doctors and experts to better understand FTD, its progression and what caregivers can do to give loved ones the best quality of life possible. She’s been sharing her findings and conversations on social media.
“I love and care for my husband so much,” she told Fox News Digital in September.
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“I want him to go into this next chapter of his life being cared for and loved. But I think what has also helped me is the advocacy part of all this, being able to use my voice to help somebody else. That has been really comforting to me, to be able to share what I’ve learned along the way. I think being able to give back in any way I can has been the way for me to continue walking through this journey.”
Emma said she hopes that by going public with a private, devastating experience, other caregivers won’t feel alone in their journeys. But today, it’s about taking things one day at a time — for herself and her husband.
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“I’ve come a long way,” she said. “I never thought, since receiving Bruce’s diagnosis, that I would find laughter again. I think it’s taken time. I’m still learning. But I’m doing the best that I can.”
Culkin’s children love ‘Home Alone’ but don’t know their father is the famous star
Macaulay Culkin is reflecting on one of the most iconic movies of his career.
Following a recent screening of the iconic holiday movie at the Academy Museum in honor of the film’s 35th anniversary, the 45-year-old actor and the movie’s director, Chris Columbus, sat down for a Q&A, in which Culkin shared that his two kids are big fans of the movie.
“They don’t even call it ‘Home Alone,’ they call it ‘Kevin.’ They’re like, ‘Wow, Kevin’s really funny.’ I go, ‘He’s also handsome, somebody that your mom [Brenda Song] might be into,” Culkin said, via The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor shares two children with actress Brenda Song: sons Dakota, 4, and Carson, 3.
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While the two are big fans of the Christmas movie, Culkin shared that he has not told them he’s Kevin, saying, “I try to keep the magic alive.”
“I showed my oldest — he wanted to see a picture of me and my siblings, so I pulled up this old photo; it’s all my siblings, and he looks right at me, and he goes, ‘Who’s that? That looks like Kevin,’” Culkin shared. “I go, ‘Oh, no, nobody, here’s your aunt.'”
After years in the entertainment industry, Culkin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2023. When speaking with Fox News Digital following the ceremony, the actor reflected on making the film, saying as a 9-year-old kid, he “just tried to be professional and charming at the same time.”
While accepting the honor on stage, he thanked Song for being her “champion,” adding, “You’re the only person happier for me today than I am.”
“You’re the best woman I’ve ever known. You’re the best person I’ve ever known,” he said. “You’ve given me all my purpose. You’ve given me family. And after the birth of our two boys, you’ve become one of my three favorite people.”
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The two first met in 2014 at a mutual friend’s house, but reconnected and began a romantic relationship in 2017 when they were both cast in the 2019 comedy “Changeland.”
They later went on to get engaged in January 2022, with a source telling People at the time the couple was “excited for their future together.”
Culkin shared during the Q&A that his perspective on the movie has changed since becoming a father, saying he now resonates with Catherine O’Hara’s character, “seeing how desperately and how hard she’s trying to get home” to her son.
He also shared that since becoming a parent, people always ask him if he watches “Home Alone” with his kids, to which he responds, “Of course, this movie is awesome.”
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“But I don’t watch the movie, I watch them,” he said. “I watch their eyes. I listen to them laugh and things like that. And it makes me really proud to be a part of something like that. So it resonates now. Now I can see it through their eyes.”
He continued: “You guys were raised on it, now you guys are raising your kids on it, right? So, now I’m raising my kids on it. It means something completely different. That’s the way I look at the movie nowadays.”
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