My husband and I were married on December 22nd many years ago, in a church decorated with greenery and poinsettias. We spent our first Christmas together on our honeymoon. To me, Christmas has always been the most romantic time of year, one filled with tradition and memories.
That first Christmas, we exchanged gifts with my husband’s parents a few days before the wedding. They gave us camping equipment, which we’d wanted. (We got engaged on a camping trip.) Then his mother presented me with a small wrapped box. In it was one of those Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments — Our First Christmas Together. That started the tradition of buying a new ornament each year. If the ornament isn’t already marked with the year, I mark it. We have a ceramic ornament I purchased at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I was thrilled to find one marked 1997 — that particular year. Only when we unwrapped it later to hang on the tree did we realized the stylized script actually read 1907. We always make jokes about remembering that as a very good year. A wooden plane commemorates the year my husband took flying lessons. Others mark new houses. All the milestone years are also celebrated with special ornaments — 10, 15, 20 and 25th anniversaries.
There are other special ornaments on our tree. Ornaments purchased in different places we’ve visited. Ornaments given to us by friends. And pictures of our beloved dogs, both past and present. Decorating the tree is a trip down memory lane for us, and a special way to start the holiday season.
I try to make time during the holidays for listening to special music (the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Garibaldi), watching holiday movies (While You Were Sleeping, A Christmas Story and Love, Actually are three must-sees) and reading Christmas books. I love Christmas-themed short story collections and just finished The Perfect Tree by Roz Denny Fox, Ann DeFee and Tanya Michaels. I highly recommend it!
Not all my traditions are old. When we moved to Colorado, we added the tradition of going out into the National Forest near our home to cut our tree. We take the dogs and tramp around in the snow for an hour or so until we find just the right tree. Then we cut it, haul it to the truck, and toast our choice with hot cocoa.
A girlfriend and I have made it a tradition these past three years to get together one afternoon after the decorations are up and treat ourselves to tea at Denver’s elegant Brown Palace Hotel.
Traditions help set this time of year apart from ‘ordinary time,’ help us to get into the right frame of mind and enrich the holidays. They can be as elaborate as a holiday feast and as simple as a cup of eggnog. And they can be adapted, discarded, or re-created as it suits our needs. So what are your holiday traditions? What traditions have you added recently? Which ones have you discarded in favor of something else?
Whatever your traditions or celebrations, I wish you much peace and happiness in the coming year — and many wonderful books to read!
7 comments:
We really have no traditions that are special to us.
Our family is scattered to the four winds, so we cannot get together as often as we would like.
Happy Holidays Cindi!
Estella, you should make your own tradition -- something that puts you in a holiday mood or makes you feel good.
Every year my sister has a Christmas party for her friends. On average 40-50 people wander in and out throughout the evening. Some staying a half hour, some 2 hours. So Wednesday she is coming to pick me up and take me to her place in Mississauga(near Toronto) and staying through the weekend. I think I figured out her theory for inviting me, live in labour.
Happy Holidays
I also read all my holiday books in December. Thanks for the recommendation. The Perfect Tree is my next read and I'm just about to crack it open.
Those are some of my favorite holiday movies. :)
We collect ornaments from places we visit, too. I love unpacking them each year and saying, "Oh, remember this place?" LOL!
Happy Holidays!
We have a tradition to play society games and watch a movie on christmas eve while eating more than we should and opening presents at midnight :)
We always travel for the holiday since both of our families live in the state where we grew up. So I guess you could say adding miles to the car's odometer is a Christmas tradition. :) I always drag the hubby out one night each year to go look at Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music on the radio.
Just started Lee's "With This Ring" last night and am really enjoying it so far.
I have no traditions any longer. Since my parents have both passed away the tradition we had of everyone (inlaws included) gathered at their house and opened gifts and then worked together to fix supper.
Post a Comment