Quote:
Originally Posted by MrsMcD
I can't let go of the traditional tree either. I love the ornaments that my son has made through the years. They are the most special. We also collect ornaments from places we visit.
|
My wife and I have spent Christmas together since 1957. That year I bought her an engagement ring for Christmas. She was 16 and I had just turned 20. We married the following February (1958). Our first Christmas tree was about 3 feet tall and we had some small ornaments we bought at a nearby dime store. The lights were those kind that got pretty hot and if one bulb burned out, the whole string went out. Then you had to try to check the bulbs one by one until you found the one that had burnt out. We still have a few of those ornaments left and put them on our tree every year. Over the years we have gotten larger trees and more ornaments. With 5 children and now 13 grandchildren we have accumulated a real eclectic bunch of ornaments --some home made, some bought, some commemorating an event, and some received as gifts.
Yesterday, my daughter who lives in town and her 4 children came here with a cake and a gift to celebrate my 70th birthday. Her children are 16, 13, 10, and 6. Another grand daughter who lives in a nearby town but stays with us a few days each week because she goes to college near here was also with us. She is 21. We had a fire in the fireplace and after dinner, cake and ice cream, and the singing of happy birthday and blowing out the candles, we decorated the tree with about 50 years of memories.
Christmas Eve we will have as many children and grandchildren here as can get here and we will eat and open gifts. Then Christmas day they will all do their own thing with their individual families. Christmas can be quite a hassle but over the years it has been a special time for us as a family.
When we started having children, the first was born in 1959, Pat and I stopped buying gifts for one another at Christmas so we could concentrate on gifts for the children. Money has always been scarce (even when I was working two jobs) and it is scarce now with a small pension and Social Security. A few years ago we stopped buying gifts for our adult children so we can buy something for each of the grand children.
I realize that our American Christmas celebration has incorporated things from materialism and paganism but over the years it has been special for us as a family. We don't go to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas (even if it happens to be a regular church day) but we certainly don't forget that Jesus is the Reason for the Season. And the presence of God is very real in the love that fills this place.
Linear Mode
