Every family has a Christmas tree story. This is ours. I can’t reach the top of our tree. Even if I stand on tiptoe I cannot reach the highest half-dozen branches. I’m well over six foot, so that gives you an idea of how tall our tree is.
I need a chair to stand on when the time comes to put the angel on the top. The tree is so wide that I can barely get my arms around a third of it. So you can imagine just how many decorations we’d need for a tree that size.
Trust me, we have plenty. P L E N T Y. And every adornment has a story behind it. When our eldest child was an infant, we bought a special decoration to mark her first year. The next year, she was old enough to choose one for herself. So in addition to the "normal" decorations we bought for our tree, we have always bought a special one for each of our three children, every single year.
Sometimes one of the Authorbloglets will choose more than one decoration, so the precious collection has grown by leaps and bounds. Three years ago, I was a long way from home, in Muskoka, Canada, when I spotted a Christmas shop. Of course, I had to duck in there and choose a special decoration for each of my children, reflecting each of their respective interests.
When I went to the counter to pay for them, the woman told me she could even engrave each child’s name in gold paint. That gold paint still looks as fresh as ever. And the story of where they came from has been told many times.
So the collection grows. Each piece holds special significance, special memories, special connotations of a period of life and growth and family values. And when each Authorbloglet leaves home, they will take with them their own collection for their own tree in their own home with their own family.
And so the special tradition, like all good Christmas traditions, will continue.
(For a very special post that honours the spirit of Christmas, perhaps you’d care to check out my Sky Watch Friday post from earlier today. I’d be delighted if you could simply scroll down or click here to go to Christmas Angels In The Sky.)
Visit MamaGeek and Cecily, creators of Photo Story Friday.