Part 1: Decorating the Tree
The long, arduous process of climbing to the attic and
pulling out all the decorations is worth the amazing memories of each ornament
that I put on the tree.
Decorating for Christmas has always been my “job.” Gene
loves the end result but finds the process of decorating tedious. Not me. Every
decoration, every ornament brings a smile. Not so much because of what the
decorations are as the memories these bring.
After Gene and I were married, our first Christmas was
a comedy of errors. We were in seminary then and had very little money so our
first Christmas tree was a four foot artificial tree from Kmart. We purchased
glass ball ornaments because they were cheap and there were 18 in a box. We
added a string of lights, icicles and a few miniature candy canes. It was not
very pretty but it was ours. I had to put it on a table by the door to our
apartment so that we could see it from the window.
My first mistake was unwrapping the candy canes to hang
them on the tree. By the end of the first night I was cleaning the glass balls
because the candy canes had melted on them and the table.
The next mistake was putting the tree on that table by
the door. Every time Gene came into the apartment, he would slam the door shut
and knock our tree to the floor. Because I really wanted the tree by the door,
it had to get knocked off the table about four or five times before I got
frustrated and took the tree down. It went right back in the box it came in,
along with a few ornaments that had not been shattered.
It was that first Christmas together that I decided
that my children would have Christmas ornaments for the first Christmas trees.
So every year since my son was born, I have purchased ornaments for him, then
my girls. When Kim joined our family, I started by one for her every year. Next came our grandson, and this year we
added a son-in-law. Every year for whatever their interests, or whatever
circumstances in their lives, they get an ornament. So we have homemade
ornaments, Baby’s first Christmas, Elmo, Star Wars, Transformers, Legos,
Cowboys, Cars, ballet, gymnastics, football, softball, Sushi, “Our First Home”
and tractors. There are also violins, saxophones, flutes, guitars and violas.
There are also many ornaments that we have been given over the years.
Ornaments have become a family tradition. Every year
new ornaments and new stories are added to the tree, except that it isn’t just
our tree now. Will, Kim and Jaxon have their own tree. Hannah and Alex have
their tree this year.
I love decorating because the decorations tell our
family’s story. It tells of our past, stories of our present and stories that
are still to come.