One of my favorite things to unpack each year is our nativity set. I bought this when Mr. Wonderful and I were newly married - way before we were even thinking about children! It's a sturdy, wooden, rather primitive set I found at Pier One which always has a place of honor in our home. The kids love getting it out each year and finding a special place for it, and then arranging it and rearranging it all month long...
It is 21 years old, and well loved and played with through the years...the angel's wings are a bit tattered and the edge of one wing was chewed on at some point by a pet (or a child?)...
The kids still love getting this out each year.
We love unpacking old photographs...
which remind us of old friends like Rags...
There are the special decorations which were made with love...
And the Santa Claus my grandfather made, which holds Christmas cards...
And then, there's the tree. Some people have themes to their decorating - all red ornaments, or silver, or pink. Their trees are beautiful and coordinated.
Our is a hodgepodge. It's eclectic. Our tree is a memory tree. It is filled with ornaments which do not match, and are not always pretty. But every ornament on our tree represents a memory....
Memories of childhoods which are flying past much too quickly...
Memories of a first performance in The Nutcracker...
and of relatives...
and pets who are no longer with us...
Memories of trips....
And memories of our job description...
As if I could forget!
Our tree may not be pretty or color coordinated. The garlands may not hang evenly and some of the ornaments are hung too close together. I don't care, though. Our tree was decorated by the kids, and it is a memory tree. It is a tree that represents our family - and WE'RE not always perfect or color coordinated either! Every single ornament means something to our family, and every single ornament on that tree is precious to me.
