Christmas Memories

I hope all of you are safe and warm tonight, snuggled up and waiting for Santa to arrive.

Eagerly anticipating what's inside each carefully wrapped package underneath the tree!  For me, Christmas is all about the traditions and the memories we create which will last a lifetime.  So each year we do certain things, the way we always have.  It's these little rituals that make it feel like Christmas.

On Christmas Eve my children have a special package to open.  They know what's inside, it's been the same thing for years.  It's a pair of PJs for them to wear while visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.  They are grown now, but they still love this tradition.

Also each year I buy my children an ornament to commemorate something important or special that has happened to them throughout the year.  For our son Bugs it was receiving his EMT certification last summer, so I found a special EMT ornament.

And our daughter, Angelfish, moved this year to her new apartment, so she received a key ornament.

I love the little card that came with this ornament, especially since we don't have a chimney for Santa to come down at this house, and neither does she at her new place!

When my mother passed away 6 years ago, I decided to purchase an ornament that reminded me of her.  And then when my father also died, I continued that tradition, and began purchasing an ornament in memory of him as well.  Some years I get a separate ornament for each of them, but this year I bought an ornament with the Kings Arms Tavern crest on it.  They loved Williamsburg and visited it each year, often dining at the Kings Arms Tavern so I thought it was a perfect reminder of both of them.

Sadly, I also lost my dear friend Dan this year, so I added an ornament to the tree in honor of him.  He loved Superman, and I know he is smiling down when he sees it hanging on my tree.  I also sent one to his wife and mother in hopes that they too will find comfort in adding an ornament in his memory to their trees each year.  For me it is a way of keeping those I have lost close to me during the holidays.

Of course I have beautiful new ornaments on my tree, but it's the ones that bring back fond memories from when my children were young that make me smile the most each year when I unwrap them and place them on the tree.  Like this Santa made from a crab shell by one of my chldren in elementary school!

Or this one made by my son when he was in kindergarten.  It seems like just yesterday that he brought this home all wrapped up as only a 5 year old can, and beaming with pride at his magnificent creation!  Ahh I miss those days sometimes!

There are ornaments that once graced the branches of my grandparent's tree.

And a beautiful tree skirt cross stitched by my mother in law not long after we were married always adorns the bottom of the tree. 

Of course with each year there are always new memories to be made.  This will be Misty Belle's first Christmas and she will find out that Santa doesn't just remember to bring toys and goodies to the adults...special pets will find something under the tree on Christmas morning too!

Unlike any other time of year, Christmastime is when we are flooded with emotions...both happy and sad.

And every one of the things I chose to put out each year, and then lovingly pack away until next year, have special meaning for me.

It may be the memory of who gave them to me.

Or the special place I visited where I picked up a certain something.

Each piece of decor has a story to tell.

A memory to awaken.

Of childhood...

Or Friendship...

Or family.

Some things spell it right out.

Others are more subtle.

But each thing, no matter how big or how small has meaning.

If not to everyone, at least to me.

They are the tiny threads that connect us to our past.

That remind us of who we are and where we come from.

And these things will create memories for our own children.

I hope that each of you will find those quiet moments during the hustle and bustle of ribbon flying, paper tearing, and the sounds of laughter and excitement on Christmas day, to stop and take it all in.  To drink up the joy that surrounds you and tuck it away into your heart and mind for safe keeping.

So that this time next year, or 60 years from now, you'll be able to think back, and although you may not remember what shirt you got, or how many pairs of socks, you'll remember the feeling.  The feeling of love, contentment, and happiness that Christmas is supposed to bring.

I wish each of you Happy Memories and a Very Merry Christmas!!!