Memory Trees

 

Do you have your Christmas tree up yet? We always put ours up the day before Thanksgiving, which is the fourth Thursday in November. Our tree is not a professional decorator's.  I've likened ours to a charm bracelet. There's no rhyme or reason to the decorations, I use found objects and a few other dangly things that sparkle, or not.  It's a mixture for sure, there are silver spoons dangling from ribbons, there are small cups and there's a tea caddy and all of the ornaments received from the Secret Santa exchange Chooky organized for years. There's a key fob Jenny brought from Australia when she came to visit front and center.

The one thing I think Christmas trees should do is make us smile and remember.  Some have decorations that have passed down through the years and opening the boxes each year brings back memories and good feeling.  When our kids were little each year we gave our daughter an angel ornament and our son a toy soldier ornament. Each year the new ornament was the first to go up.  When they got married and left home their box of ornaments went with them. The year our daughter was in Scotland at St. Andrews we sent her a handmade ornament in the family plaid and had a double here at home.  Our angels at the top of our tree are the ones they made from construction paper when they were in preschool.  They are at the very tippy top and getting more fragile every year.

But the things I like most are the photographs.  One year I was missing the littles and thought if I put their photos tucked into the branches they are there every morning when the tree is plugged in and watered, saying "Good morning!"  Sometimes I tuck in birthday invitations from that year.  Sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I tuck in school photos and sometimes I don't.   It changes.  I have our son's press pass dangling from when he was honored to be chosen to be at a panel discussion with four former U.S. Presidents. He was in high school.

Some of the photos are from when the littles were very little

The Santa visits of our son and daughter from over 40 years ago

This is our Adelaide.  It's the ONE photo I have of her eating fruit.  She won't eat fruit.  She won't even eat pink icing on a cupcake because she doesn't trust that you didn't flavor it strawberry.  Well, I tell her that I have photographic proof that at one time she DID eat fruit.  But she doesn't anymore. So this one usually makes it onto the tree.

Some are when everyone was a lot younger.  In the top photo Charlie wasn't a year old yet but this year he turned 15. Below that the littles are helping grandpa blow out his candles. A long time ago.

If your tree looks like ours, a conglomeration of everything, tucking in a few photographs of your favorite people are ornaments I can guarantee will make you smile.