Memory lane.

I finished decorating my house for Christmas today. I put up some decorations before Thanksgiving and finished today. My Christmas ornaments took me down memory lane. Three years ago, I couldn't even decorate my tree. My friends Toni and Mel came over and did it for me. It's taken three years for me to be able to decorate it without crying, so I'm feeling really proud of myself today.
I collect ornaments, mostly Hallmark, but I have many, many that have been accumulated in a life of 57 years.
My oldest ornaments are from my childhood. There was a box of ornaments in my Mom's attic that she quit using. I latched on to them because I just couldn't stand to see them thrown out. I'm so glad I did. They are a little faded, and because Mom always sprayed her tree with that canned snow stuff, they have some marks on them, but I love them.
I started buying ornaments for Jason in 1977 when we moved to Wellston. There are three little elves and an ornament hanger that I bought for him at Terry's Drug.
Then I have all the homemade ornaments. The little ceramic ones made by Granny Violet for the kids, the plastic canvas ones made by my mom, the crafts Linda made that made us laugh and laugh. My sister Linda was almost blind, but she continued to make crafts at Christmas. Her ornaments were always so funny. One has a deer glued into an acorn shell, but the deer is facing backward. God love her; she never gave up.
I have some really sweet ones that were given to my kids as gifts. Allison's first Christmas ornaments came from relatives in Texas and Tony's cousin Jim who lived in Germany at the time. The Texans sent a Dumbo and Goofy for Jason and a "Baby's First Christmas" ball for Allison, and the ones from Jim are a little tiny baby in a cradle, a rocking horse, and a teddy bear. The year Carson was born, my friend Teresa Smith made a set of ornaments for the kids with their picture in it.
When Allison was two I started buying Hallmark ornaments-one for each member of the family. I don't buy them until after Christmas, and I try to get something that will reflect something in that year for each kid. Mine and Tony's are the series ones. Football players, basketball players, baseball players, cowboys and cowgirls, cheerleaders, golfers, skiers--do you see a trend here? Since we have had Lucy, I have bought a dog ornament for her, so we now have twelve of those. Add that up. 29 x 4, plus 24 x 1 plus 12 x 1. I don't want to know how much I have spent at Hallmark the day after Christmas. I have several OSU ornaments that were either gifts or that I purchased myself. I also have some gifts that make me think of a person who was in my life for a season, former students, friends I don't see much any more, colleagues. I wonder if I will always remember who these things come from. Right now I do.
I buy an ornament when I travel. This year I added a moose from Durango and a guitar from Graceland. My most expensive ornaments are a recent collection. I have about five White House ornaments. They are absolutely beautiful and worth the splurge.
I have three brass snowflakes that Cooper's Funeral Home gives to the families who have lost a loved one the previous year. I hope I don't get any more of those for a while. I have Mom's, Dad's, and Jason's. I have two of the "I'm spending Christmas in Heaven this Year" ornaments given to me the year Jason died, and a beautiful hand-painted horse and rider that one of Jason's friends sent to me that year. I made some Pray-for-Us ornaments with Jason's picture in a clear ball that I gave to his friends so that they would always remember us at Christmas time.
My tree is full, probably too full, but I just can't make myself get a second tree. I also can't make myself give the ornaments to the kids. That was the original intention. I'm so glad I didn't give Jason's to him. If I had, there's no telling where they would have ended up. Sorry, Allison and Carson. These are staying at my house. I'll eventually have to divide them up, but it won't be for many, many years.