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DECEMBER 2025 888-889-8899 DellutriLawGroup.com
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Growing Together With You
Dellutri Family Traditions The Secret to a Merry Christmas! (Hint: It’s Not the Shopping)
“It’s the traditions, not the gifts, that make Christmas special.”
Every year at Christmas, I get my wife a present she needs but won’t buy for herself. These are stupid gifts, mind you. For example, we make a lot of Italian food in our house, and my wife doesn’t use a spoon holder. She just lays the messy spoon right down on the counter! It drives me insane. So, as a Christmas gift, I bought her a spoon rest; I think the one I gave her had Mickey Mouse on it. She just looked at it and shook her head. “Really?” she asked.
when she was a kid, a trip to Red Lobster was a big deal. Eyeing the gift card, she asked, “You’re still not going to go with me?” “Oh no, that’s for you to take somebody else,” I replied. Every year, I try to get her something “special” like that. As crazy as my wife thinks I am for getting her these stupid gifts, I think she looks forward to it. Maybe she wonders, “What the heck is he going to come up with this year?” Those stupid gifts have become a tradition, just like all the other traditions. And each and every one of them makes me feel like it’s Christmas. The Dellutri family Christmas traditions start as early as Thanksgiving Day, when we always watch “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” as a family. It might be playing on 2–3 different TVs at once, but it’s still on for everybody to see. My wife and I always decorate the house together, playing Christmas music just a little too loud. Working in the house together evokes memories of all the projects we have done in the 5–6 houses we have owned, painting, putting up wallpaper, ripping up this or installing that. We’ve been in our current house for 20 years and renovated nearly every room by ourselves.
On Christmas morning, we often play Vanessa Williams’ “Star Bright,” a favorite holiday album, while we open presents. Also,
Another year I got her a Red Lobster gift card. I am not a fan of Red Lobster, but
we all wear matching pajamas. I am not a fan of this tradition, but I do it because the kids love it. The pajamas are often Disney themed, always red and green. Usually my wife and all the girls pick them out. I don’t get a choice, I just get told to wear them. I add my New York Giants Santa hat as a finishing touch, and a family picture is taken. (In case you are looking for one of these photos in the newsletter, you will never find one. My daughters would hate me. “Dad, that’s not newsletter material!”) My family didn’t have Christmas stockings when I was growing up. But when Marjorie and I remodeled our living room, we added a fireplace (because fireplaces are important
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When my family and I go out to a restaurant, I sometimes see families seated nearby, acting out my biggest nightmare: Four people are all just sitting there, gazing at their phones, not interacting, laughing, or talking at all. That is my greatest fear: that a time may come when I don’t have anything to talk about with my family. As the leader of my family, I see myself as the one who sparks conversations, who asks questions, who finds something to discuss that will get us talking and listening to each other. That is part of my responsibility! Seeing other families squandering their precious face-to-face time, I want to say, “Put your cellphones down!” Have you ever thought about how much of the total time you will ever spend with your kids is already past? A popular author and speaker, Tim Urban, decided to answer that question with data. Urban, whose website, Wait But Why?, has 600,000 subscribers, looked back at his own life with his parents, who were in their mid-60s at the time, and tabulated how much time he spent with THE SHORT SEASON OF CHILDHOOD Seize the Moment to Talk, Listen, and Connect
them as a kid, and how much he still had left. By the time he graduated from high school at age 18, Urban figured, 93% of his in-person time with his parents was already gone! After that, he saw his parents only five times a year, for two days at a time. Even if his parents lived into their 90s, Urban said, by 34, he had already used up all but 5% of his likely total time with them. Frankly, this shocked me. If that’s all the time we have together, shouldn’t that be quality time? Shouldn’t we avoid wasting time together at a restaurant by staring at social media? Put that phone down. Even if you just talk about what kind of day you had, tell that story! If you are with a child who wants to engage with you, engage! November is Family Stories Month, so this is the season to share and celebrate each other’s stories. As you gather with loved ones this holiday season, I hope you’ll remember this: All we have is this present moment together, and we will never get it back. Don’t waste it!
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A BREAK FOR BORROWERS
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in Florida … not). It’s a fake fireplace. It’s electric. It’s never used, but it looks nice. So, now we have a mantel, with stocking holders, and Marjorie creates stockings for everyone. The little kids love the candy, trinkets, and toys they find there. My daughter and my son have picked up on our family traditions and taken over some of the creative roles. And this year, we have a new addition, our granddaughter Emma. She will get her own Christmas pajamas and her own stocking that my wife will create for her. These traditions become ingrained. We do them without thinking about it. And as the years go by, I’m realizing that Christmas isn’t really about the gifts. It’s about doing these same things, over and over again, with your family. It’s the traditions, not the gifts, that make Christmas special. As the holidays draw near, I hope you, too, will enjoy some holiday traditions that are beloved by your family (and maybe a little stupid as well)!
Bankruptcy Changes Open the Door to Student Loan Relief
Many college graduates feel trapped by a crushing student debt load. Like a hamster on a wheel, they just keep running, running, running, and getting nowhere. Until recently, there was no exit from their dilemma because student loans could not be discharged in bankruptcy.
–Carmen Dellutri
Now, that has changed.
For the first time, Florida bankruptcy attorneys have the opportunity to help student borrowers renegotiate student loan debt through the courts. Certain bankruptcy courts, including those in two federal districts encompassing most of Florida, have adopted a court- supervised student loan mediation program. As a result, bankruptcy has just become the ultimate tool to battle your student loans! Consumers undergoing Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings are now allowed to include student loans in negotiations to reduce balances owed and set a manageable repayment plan. That means debtors going through a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can get together with their lenders and figure out a game plan for repaying their student loans, in addition to their other debts. Once borrowers and lenders agree, the agreements are subject to approval by a bankruptcy court judge. Participation by both student-loan debtors and lenders is voluntary, but the court’s involvement gives student-loan debtors a bit more leverage. This is a promising change from the past. Many student loan holders have emerged from Chapter 13 bankruptcy to discover that they actually owe even more on their student loans than before they filed for protection, thanks to snowballing interest and penalties. Americans owe a combined total of more than $1.81 trillion in student loans, even more than the $1.66 trillion owed on auto loans and $1.21 trillion in credit card debt. The average debt among college graduates in 2024 was $30,000 apiece, pressuring some to postpone buying a home or having children. We are delighted to have an opportunity to help our clients make progress toward a hopeful financial future. If you are struggling with debt and wondering if bankruptcy is the solution, you don’t have to face this alone. Call us to set up a free consultation! We will help you find a path to financial relief.
What’s the Good News? “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” JOSHUA 1:9 A referral is the greatest gift we can receive from a client or fellow business! Last month we had ... • 32 referrals from friends, family, or previous clients • 19 returning clients for new matters • 10 referrals from other attorneys • 12 referrals from doctors and other professionals • We also send out referrals to our trusted referral partners! A Huge Thank-You to Our Referral Partners!
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Inside This Issue
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The Real Joy of Christmas Can’t Be Wrapped
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Blink and They’re Grown: Cherish the Fleeting Years of Childhood
Our Clients Say It Best
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Legal Shift Gives Student Loan Borrowers New Hope
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Disguised Devices of WWII
THE SECRET TOOLS OF WAR FREEDOM IN A DECK OF CARDS
James Bond gets the movie credit, but real spies in World War II were pulling tricks long before 007 hit the screen. Their work wasn’t flashy; it was desperate. The British intelligence agency MI9 and later the American MIS-X program were tasked with helping Allied soldiers escape Nazi prisons or avoid capture. That meant turning everyday objects into tools. Take the button compass. It looked like part of a soldier’s uniform, nothing more. But inside sat a tiny magnetic needle. Line it up on a string, and suddenly you knew which way was north. Hairbrushes carried folded maps or money. Monopoly boards weren’t just for killing time; they came with real bills mixed in, and if you saw a red dot on “Free Parking,” chances were good there was more than a game in the box. A few companies, including the U.S. Playing Card Company, also did their part. Soldiers could peel away the top layer of a card to
uncover silk escape maps. Cigarette packs from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company carried radio parts. Gillette even made razor blades that acted like a compass if you balanced them on a stick. What’s remarkable is that the companies involved never asked for recognition or payment. Gillette, R.J. Reynolds, and the Playing Card Company volunteered and helped. And the gadgets kept coming. Radios hidden in suitcases. Hollow heels in boots with maps tucked inside. Even Ping- Pong paddles had secret compartments. Guards saw these items and didn’t give them a second thought. That was the point. Most of the devices were destroyed when the war ended. But enough stories survived to give us a glimpse. Clever doesn’t even begin to cover it. For many prisoners, a deck of cards or a shaving kit wasn’t just a distraction. It was a shot at freedom.
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