Celebrating What Counts

  Celebrating with Ruth Ayres at Discover Play Build.  and linking with others who share their celebrations, too. I am grateful to Ruth for helping us celebrate together!  

          Sometimes Christmas is sad for me, missing my husband and all the good memories we had together.  Decorating the tree finds me filled with thoughts of the past. Nevertheless, I do find things to celebrate among all this, too. A few years ago I went through our many decorations and gave a box full of ornaments that were saved for my children, from their childhood.  There are still so many that now I only put on the favorites because I have a much smaller tree. The favorites year to year change, and that's fun, too.


         In our budget, we managed to purchase a few paper ornaments and create others. But one that has been at the top of our tree since the beginning was an angel. I don't remember what it cost then, but it seemed like a lot on a tight budget. This time I celebrate that in the early years when we didn't have much money and were just beginning our Christmas traditions, we found ways to decorate the tree for little money. I celebrate that even then we knew that money doesn't buy happiness. We loved our years decorating no matter what we had. Being together, and later with the kids and family were what made us rich indeed. 

     A few ornaments, a few memories.

created from a milkweed pod and a sliver of wood

one of those paper ornaments

a gift from one of my first "first grade" students

a knitted bell, jingle bell inside

         I imagine ornaments are part of your memories, too, and if you celebrate other religious holidays, those objects from the past are full of memories too. Happy Holidays to all!