Building Christmas Memories
My love of decorating for Christmas began when I was a girl. My mother still has a felt nativity wall hanging that her sister, my Aunt Nan, helped me make. It was I who asked Mother if we could go to the dime store and buy nativity figures and a cardboard stable. When aluminum Christmas trees became popular, it was my idea that we switch from a live cedar tree to an aluminum one. I dragged that aluminum tree out of Mother’s basement a few months ago; and one of these years, I hope to clean it up and use it.
I decorate every room at least a little bit. In fact, I make sure I have a tree in every room–though some are only about ten inches tall. I have not always been able to decorate in a big way. I remember our first Christmas when we got our first tree. Oh, the decorations were sparse. My graduate student husband and I certainly did not have a lot of money to fill up a Christmas tree with decorations. We found a few ornaments in his parents’ attic, bought maybe five, and I made a few. I tied together ribbons from a bag of ribbon scraps to make a garland. I don’t think we even had lights. The tree was pretty pitiful.
I was disappointed. I was also too young to realize that we were just beginning. We didn’t have to have everything right then. In time we could build Christmas memories.
It is so easy to be impatient and to want what we want right now. It’s hard to wait for Johnny to learn to read and for Susie to learn her multiplication tables. It’s hard to wait for Timmie to learn to share and for Janie to learn to control her temper. It is hard to wait for our husbands–and ourselves–to grow in Christ.
We have been married thirty-nine years now and we have had lots of time to collect ornaments. Our children and I have made them. We have received them as gifts. In the 1980s, we started buying them as souvenirs when we travel. When we found that actual ornaments were too expensive, we have sometimes bought objects, like key chains or pins, and turned them into ornaments.
Now I don’t have to put up a pitiful Christmas tree–I put up several pretty ones; and, as I do, I take a walk through the last thirty-nine years of sweet, sweet memories, including our first Christmas. I took some photos last night so I could share these memories with you.
I made them for our first Christmas.
That’s Ray on the left and me on the right.
I made us from styrofoam balls and Leggs eggs.
Back then, Leggs pantyhose came in these eggs.
Ray’s body is a whole egg and mine is a half.
Our features are straight pins with colored heads.
Ray’s glasses are a twist tie that has been trimmed down to the wire.
I made him from cardboard and felt.
She made this St. Nicholas ornament from cotton batting
which she dyed with tea.
when we finished America the Beautiful.
Collecting our ornaments didn’t happen overnight. It took years and years. Lots of things are like that. They don’t happen overnight. Sometimes we have to wait for years and years.
My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
Psalm 62:5
What a sweet post, Charlene, thank you for sharing! I, too, have many memories that come flooding back every year when I decorate the Christmas tree. One of the gold painted sycamore balls that hung on my parents’ first Christmas tree (they didn’t have money for ornaments either). A crocheted star made by my grandmother who’s celebrating Christmas in heaven. A Garfield cat given to me by my sister way back when I was in middle school and he was my favorite cartoon. A ballerina dancer made by my mother out of a wooden clothespin and some fabric scraps one year when money was especially tight. The “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments for both of my daughters. I could go on and on! Christmas memories are beautiful indeed. 🙂
P.S. I remember when L’eggs pantyhose came in those plastic eggs. I love your cute “Ray and Charlene snow people”!