Christmas is a personal holiday when we celebrate God’s gift of Baby Jesus to earth, Whose single purpose was to later die on the cross for us personally.
Words create images according to life experiences. I decided to look back on Christmas flashes, where the “now” in Christmas 2019 reflects on the “thens” of younger years. There is a visceral story in a person’s remembrance of certain tree ornaments or decorations from years past. When the kids were small, we went to a tree farm and chopped down our own. Prior to moving to the acreage, we lived in an old farm house on a cul-de-sac. Our trees were quite bare then, decorated in handmade construction paper chains and garlands of popcorn. Back in my memory, and I’m sure I’ve written this before, my siblings and I threw icicles on sparse cedar tree branches. Mom had glass balls that grew less in number each year.
My living room once was decorated as a Victorian parlor. I loved coming down the stairs and soaking in the lights and the tree. I can still see my two youngest holding onto the spindles with both hands and their little wide-eyed faces taking it all in.
In the seventies, I crafted a set of wooden, decoupage Victorian ornaments. In the early eighties, I made gingham fabric ornaments that I later displayed in a Coke case. In the nineties I sewed umpteen Christmas stockings for kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, made of Bill’s old ties as trim at the top. I also made fancy velvet and lace Victorian baubles. Once the kids outgrew the “fun” of decorating, I purchased more sophisticated ornaments that evolved into color-themed trees.
I went all out in 2018, mainly because my back didn’t hurt after 25 years, and I thought we’d be moving from the acreage. I unpacked collections of angels, old-time Santas, and bought more cardinal dishes. I’ll cherish those photos and maybe share later…for now, I wish you Christmas blessings and cherished memories.
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