A few weeks ago we put our (fake) Christmas tree up. My husband put the tree up, fluffed the branches, placed some kind of red sparkling sash around it and called it good. He left the box of (cheap) red and silver bulbs on the floor and said the rest was up to me.
Last year I had requested that we purchase new Christmas ornaments and throw out the Walmart specials. Request denied.
I renewed my request again this year. Request denied.
I pretended that I didn’t see the box of (cheap) bulbs and proceed to look for the GOOD stuff. All of my unique ornaments that my mom has given me over the years.
My mom would give my brother and I a new ornament every year with the date on it. She always found an ornament that represented a significant event or time in the past year. An ornament to mark getting my driver’s license, one for the cutest dog in all of the world, and one to mark all of the sports I played in high school.
She even documented my infatuation with Troy Aikman. I think I made the ornament on the left and if you look closely I’m pretty sure the ‘S’ is upside down.
This one is perhaps my favorite! This one was the year I bought my house. I LOVED my house and all of the independence I felt with owning a house. Right along with the ugly carpet, the dirty pool, the sprinklers that kept breaking and the flood that allowed me to get new carpet…I LOVED that house. I cried when I sold it before I got married.
I think I made this one when I was in kindergarten. Clearly I have been a gifted artist from the beginning!
When for a brief moment, I couldn’t find my box of ornaments a few weeks ago I was in a panic. These ornaments reminded me of OUR Christmas tradition.
It was then I realized that even if my request for new Christmas ornaments were denied again next year, I would be okay with that. Christmas trees should look like they were decorated by a family. Not like you stole it from the mall window display.
by Suzanne Melissa
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