With tomorrow being Christmas Day, I am basking today in the glow of our Christmas decorations. All of them are reminiscent of past memories in some way.
Our tree for example:
Most of the ornaments on our tree are not just random ornaments. Many are gifts from students (or their parents) over the years. Some of them were even handmade by them and their parents. Others were gifts from fellow knitters. Some are from my mother-in-law’s decorations. And others just represent our likes. There’s a leg lamp ornament, a Bigfoot ornament (my husband used to enjoy watching the Bigfoot hunting shows), and a lot of orange glittery balls that are because orange is my favorite color.
But what gets me the most about our tree now is that the light strands around the bottom are the full size bulbs and not just miniature lights. I can’t remember the story, but my mother-in-law always had one strand of the big lights around the bottom of her tree. I initially thought it was strange, but now that she has passed, I am enjoying recreating some of her methods to add to the nostalgia of the holiday.
The built-in bookshelves that we have in our dining room are a tribute to both of our mothers:
Many of the decorations, the trees in particular, are from my mother-in-law’s decorations and the lights wrapped in garland remind me of the way my mother used to decorate doorways and other spaces like that growing up.
This ceramic tree reminds me of the one that my grandmother had when I was a child. My husband bought this one for us several years ago:
And finally, when I met the cast of “A Christmas Story” two years ago, I bought a mini-leg lamp from the souvenir table. There’s no mystery about what this reminds me of. A full size replica is actually pretty pricey. This one was only 50 bucks:
There’s quite a few other parts of our decorations that remind me of people or past events. Our stockings, for example, I decorated them with embroidered felt designs one year.
I think that’s a big part of Christmas each year. Nobody ever starts over with new decorations each year. What you decorate with and the things you do are all reminiscent of past traditions, with new traditions sometimes added in. It really is beautiful to see each year.
May all who celebrate have a wonderful holiday tomorrow!
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