The Time Has Come...

...to take down the Christmas tree. I feel like singing this song skipping the part about times of being sad. Not a single one of those -- except a little nostalgia over the past remembering friends and family who are gone now. So many wonderful Christmases from my childhood going out with Daddy on Christmas eve to buy the tree and coming home to decorate it. Going to Midnight Mass with my family and coming home to open our stockings before we went to bed. Getting up on Christmas morning to the profusion of packages. (Gifts for parents and ten children make quite a pile!)

So many memories are attached to the tree: ornaments made by our children and others including my students from school and religious education, ornaments to remind us of important events like buying a John Deere tractor to take care of our beloved Camp Kreitzer, bee and chicken ornaments from the kids and friends, baby's first Christmas, handmade ornaments from an aunt, a sister-in-law, kids and grandkids, and my sisters. What a happy walk down memory lane I had today stripping the tree.

painted in 1972

Our first Christmas we had very little money. I bought a cheap box of wooden ornaments to paint, an entire box full. We didn't have much money and couldn't afford much. If I'd been more creative I would have made popcorn strands, tied bows on the branches, and added whatever do-dads and knick-knacks we had around the apartment. Today I have all kinds of things that aren't traditional ornaments. I love to put on a few little stuffed animals from the toy baskets I keep for grandkids. And after I scorched a chiffon scarf with the iron, I turned it into a flower and added it to the eclectic decorations. Pretty ribbons from gifts sometimes also make it into the ornament box.

the scorched scarf

 And I always put one of those ancient hand-painted ornaments     on the tree to remind me of our first two years living in a one-bedroom apartment. I laugh when I think of having our oldest there and moving the crib every time we needed to get into the dresser. Lots of folks we knew in Northern Virginia started out in The Hamlets and we made some great friends there! I wonder if anyone reading my blog lived there or down the street at Southern Towers, a huge high rise apartment complex. The Hamlets were garden-style apartments and an easy commute into D.C. where we both worked. Ah....the memories!

What is taking down the Christmas tree like for you? Here's one of our newest ornaments. I can't remember whether it was a gift from one of our children or a friend. Put it down to senior moments. But I love it and all the beehives and other delightful decorations. I hope you enjoyed putting up and taking down your tree as much as I did.