Once the lights were on the tree it was time to put on the ornaments. I've been collecting them for six decades, starting with a glass ornament my grandmother gave me. I still have it. There's the red bird that always was near the top of my mother's tree. Now it's near the top of mine. It's battered and scratched but it means the world to me.
The ugly Styrofoam gingerbread men are a reminder of a time when Chris was very small and I had very little money to spend on a tree. We made popcorn strings, paper chains and folded snowflakes, and spent $1 on a dozen gingerbread men. Only three are left. Those ugly things go on the back of the tree where no one can see them but I know they are there and what they stand for.
There are the ornaments that my son and I made together when he was a child. There are teddy bears I bought on a shopping trip with my mother. There are knit and crocheted pieces made by sisters. And now there are the things from my grandson. He recorded on one of them: "Merry Christmas, Grandma". That was when he was three.
Each year there are two dozen candy canes. Evan will sneak one or two off on Christmas Eve, just like his daddy used to. There are soft unbreakable ornaments that Rascal will swipe at and knock off so he can bat them around. I know he'll do that, so I provide some he can enjoy, too.
Friends know I love ornaments so they show up from time to time. As the ornaments arrived, I had to have larger and larger trees. This is the result.
Let anyone else have a modern, stylish tree. This is my tree of memories of Christmases past.
The ugly Styrofoam gingerbread men are a reminder of a time when Chris was very small and I had very little money to spend on a tree. We made popcorn strings, paper chains and folded snowflakes, and spent $1 on a dozen gingerbread men. Only three are left. Those ugly things go on the back of the tree where no one can see them but I know they are there and what they stand for.
There are the ornaments that my son and I made together when he was a child. There are teddy bears I bought on a shopping trip with my mother. There are knit and crocheted pieces made by sisters. And now there are the things from my grandson. He recorded on one of them: "Merry Christmas, Grandma". That was when he was three.
Each year there are two dozen candy canes. Evan will sneak one or two off on Christmas Eve, just like his daddy used to. There are soft unbreakable ornaments that Rascal will swipe at and knock off so he can bat them around. I know he'll do that, so I provide some he can enjoy, too.
Friends know I love ornaments so they show up from time to time. As the ornaments arrived, I had to have larger and larger trees. This is the result.
Let anyone else have a modern, stylish tree. This is my tree of memories of Christmases past.
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