Reminiscing...

Several days ago Tom and I decorated our Christmas tree. Most of the ornaments bring back wonderful memories!

The first ornament we ever bought, nearly 40 years ago, was a brass bell, and we still hang it on the tree. The summer before we got married, I studied and traveled in Spain and came back with some wonderful felt ornaments including one of a bullfighter and another of a flamenco dancer. Other ornaments bring back memories of trips—brass ornaments from Greenfield Village and Williamsburg, a ceramic coyote from Arizona, fish from Key West, etc.

Then there are the ornaments that family and friends have given us. Each one has a special meaning: my parents brought us a koala bear from Australia, my aunt and uncle brought us several wooden ornaments from Germany, our daughter, Carolyn, gave us a streetcar from San Francisco she got when she was co-oping there while in college, etc. Then of course, there are the wonderful stitched ornaments from friends everywhere. Each one is so special and so full of wonderful memories.

I thought I would share with you a few very special ornaments. These are wonderful dough ornaments that represent members of my family.

In the first photo are ornaments representing Tom and our children, Carolyn and Stephen. As many of you know Tom is a chemist, so the artist put him in a lab coat (even though he rarely wore one) and has him holding a test tube and a chemistry book. (Tom says chemists these days almost never use test tubes either.) Next to Tom is Carolyn as a brownie scout holding a Girl Scout cookie. On her uniform is her troop number. (Carolyn wore her hair in pigtails just like on the ornament.) Stephen is last in a soccer uniform. His uniform number is actually the year (19)83 that the ornament was made.

The next two ornaments are of my parents. My father is a clergyman, so the artist put Daddy in his clericals. My mother is holding a pot of African violets. Mother had a real knack with these flowers, and sometimes friends who had an unhealthy one would send it to my mother to “heal” it.

Sadly, the artist quit doing special orders the year after I had her make the ornaments of my parents. My goal was to eventually have ornaments representing all of our family members.

Perhaps you too reminisce as you decorate your home for the holidays.