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Mementoes
of Christmases Past
Inside those dusty ornament boxes are years of warm memories
By
Cassandra Wentworth
 As
a child, nothing signaled the start of the holidays more than my
dad outside on a ladder, staple gun in one hand and strand of
thick, multi-colored Christmas bulbs in another.
It only took a
handful of the old school twinklers, which seemed to be limited to
five or six colors (I can only remember red, white, blue, orange
and green), to outline the front of the house and a few bushes.
But once they were up, it was official: presents were just around
the corner.
Those big fat bulbs
weren't much to look at, but they were familiar and they had some
history behind them.
While much of the
rest of the holiday has succumbed to sentimentalism, commercialism
and consumer obsession, Christmas decorating is one of the few
aspects of the season that can represent a true family tradition.
Each glitter-covered snowflake or handmade ornament that emerges
from the cardboard box marked “Xmas stuff ” has
the power to stir up memories of Christmases past.
For me, it happens
every year when my mom gets out the small strand of dull silver
bells my grandfather used to shake while standing outside my
window on Christmas Eve, hoping to convince me Santa and his
reindeer were really on the roof. Now that he’s gone, the bells
claim their rightful spot front and center on our Christmas tree
every year.
It’s also there in
the tired old nativity my mother bought before I was born. The
shabby manger loses a little more hay every year, and the roof is
ready to cave in on the Holy Family at any given moment. But every
time I see it, I think back to the winter evenings I spent
sprawled on the floor in front of it, rearranging all the farm
animals, Wise Men and shepherds until their staging no longer
remotely resembled the blessed scene.
Even spending hours
outside in the cold, bickering about where to put the illuminated
Rudolph brings back memories, as does hearing your dad fume that
the lights he just spent hours hanging up have burned out. In a
day when most consider sticking an 8-feet-tall inflatable
Abominable Snowman in their front yard adequate Christmas
decorating, the time it takes to create your family’s homage to
the holidays is priceless.
Experiences like that
can’t be bought in a store. They embody the true spirit of
Christmas, and they carry real meaning. That’s more than any one
will ever be able to say about an oversized inflatable yard
ornament.
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