Ugly, old, and not very hip

 Last Christmas Scott and I made the trek to Pennsylvania to visit my Mom for a couple of weeks.  We did a lot of talking, a lot of reminiscing, and a lot of snow shoveling!  And Mom gave us a present of a box of old ornaments.  The one I have above is the very old-fashioned glass kind circa 1960 or 1965.  It was green and silver back in the day.  Today the green has been washed out by sunshine and tree lights and time so that it is a sort of pale, barely-there minty green color.


I hated these ornaments growing up.  They seemed so understated and uncool.  (yeah, I was such a hip third grader!)  But when Mom gave me the box to open they were just what I wanted.  A bit of my past to put on my tree each year.  So this year, when we FINALLY started putting ornaments on the tree I had to put these on their first thing.  Now the tree continues with our family tradition of having only hand-me-downs from others.


The other ornament that I had to get on right away was this one:

Made out of a kleenex, glitter, and half of a green pipe cleaner with construction paper wings, it is just exactly what it looks like...an angel ornament made by a child.  Nathaniel made it for me many hundreds of years ago.  When he was at home he used to protest noisily about me including it on the tree, but I think secretly he was happy to see it up there.  He never took it down, never hid it, and it never "accidentally" got torn or lost, so I think he was glad to know I treasured it.

Nathaniel hasn't been home for Christmas for several years now.  This will be his third one away and I have been missing him something fierce this year.  Economics prevented me from spending the hundreds of dollars that it would cost to fly him out here from Miami.  But he is spending it with his Dad's family, so he won't be alone.  He'll hang with his cousins, stay up late, play lots of Spoons and Nertz, watch a lot of football, and get pampered by his Grandmother, so he will have a lovely Christmas.

But when Scott's family gathers around our tree tomorrow and we talk and laugh and eat and soak up the precious family time, a part of me will be missing my little boy.

The Nativity Set

This nativity set is another family "heirloom".  We bought it at Sears in about 1972, so it's not of great monetary value, nor is it particularly old nor rare.  But is is the nativity set with which I grew up.  

As a child I remember Mom and Dad setting it up, usually on top of the piano.  We were not allowed to touch it.  And so it was simply a piece of Christmas that was part of the whole process.  Nothing special.

Something happens to us, though, when we grow up and leave home.  In my case, I left home far, far behind, moving from PA to NC, OK, and finally out here in OR.  I had the opportunity to start my own family traditions.  I was on my own, all grown up, and independent.

And so I started to collect my childhood.  And insist on doing things just like we had done them back in the day.

Mom always baked dozens of cookies for Christmas.  Most were made while we were in school.  But the sandtarts, a sugar cookie that was cut with cookie cutters and then decorated with colored sugar and little candies, those were done when we were at home so that the kids could help out with the decorating.  Mom rolled the dough and cut the cookies, brushed them with egg white to make them shine, and then passed the tray on to us.  The four of us attacked the cookies with our decorations, striping bells, highlighting the tips of stars, putting buttons on gingerbread men, and outlining Santa's hat.  On Christmas morning those cookies were the featured item for our breakfast.  I don't know why this tradition got started, but I never complained - cookies and hot chocolate for breakfast and presents, too?!!?  Bliss!

So after I left home I scoured antique shops and estate sales until I found the cookie cutters like Mom had.  With the boys gone I don't make sandtarts anymore, but I need to know that I can make them, just like Mom, if I want to.  And while Scott thinks cookies for breakfast is disgusting, I still make sure there is at least one batch available.

But I digress.  Back to the nativity set.

Somewhere along the way, our nativity set came into my hands.  It could be that no one wanted it and it wasn't being used, so Mom gave it to me.  I just don't remember.  But what I do remember is how drastically the traditions surrounding it changed.  With no piano on which to enthrone it, the nativity set ended up on a coffee table.  My son, Nathaniel, who was a young boy at the time, was given the task of arranging the characters in some semblance of order.

He hit upon the idea of making the nativity set a sort of Advent calendar.  Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and the angel took center stage.  The Ox and Ass settled in next to them.  The lone shepherd with his half dozen sheep crept close.  And way off in the distance the Wise Men began their journey to see the newborn king.  Every night, before he went to bed, Nathaniel moved the three travelers with their lone camel a few steps closer to their destination.  By Christmas Eve they were close enough to see the Holy Family, but were not permitted to join in the adoration until Christmas morning.

These days, now that Nathaniel is gone, I simply set up the nativity set like you see it.  But as I do, I am flooded with memories of my childhood and that of my son.  And I know that I am blessed.

That plastic church

This little plastic music box church building used to be Scott's Grandmother's Christmas decoration.  (yet another item in our "Dead Grandmother Collection")  It's something he has had for more than 20 years, and when I first saw it I nearly cried.

You see, MY own Grandma had one of these, and it was passed on to our family.  It was one of those things that made its appearance each year, and was dutifully wound up so we all could listen to it play "Silent Night".

When we had it, I don't think it was a particular favorite of mine.  It just was a part of Christmas.  Because it always made an appearance it was the fabric of Christmas to me.  And something I didn't know I missed until I saw it again.

How fortunate that it is in my family again!

Every time I see it I am reminded of Scott's Grandmother, the one I never knew.  And my own Grandma James.  And my family when I was young.  Back when we decorated the tree with construction paper ornaments and Mom made about five hundred thousand cookies and there was always the right amount of snow on the ground.  Back when my memory is probably so dim that none of that really happened!

Each year when I unpack the "living room stuff" and set it out, I am always eager to find this church building.  I plug it in, wind it up, and continue on with my unpacking and placing of the various ornaments and doo-dads.  And I think about my family, some gone from this earth, some thousands of miles away, and I am grateful for another Christmas full of hope and joy.

Merry Christmas!