Every Ornament

Each ornament has a special meaning. Some of those meanings are lost to time. On the far right of this top row is a one-eyed reindeer made out of wooden clothes clips. It was a project of a senior center that my mother and father belonged to. One of the eyes popped off some time in the past and Dad cleverly fixed it by drawing an eye patch on the head where the bobble eye was once glued. (Dad was clever at making unique repairs like this.)

The second row of pictures contains Grandma’s snow flakes. In the middle this ornament was on the tree for several years and then Zachary came along. I added a paper snow flake. On the left of it is an attempted do-over. (Regan’s name was miss spelled when it appeared.) I thought about my father’s unique repairs and then gave up, safe in the thought that I know how to spell her name.

The third row tells a bit of Cheryl’s life. She painted a bunch of wooden ornaments waiting for Anna to appear early in our family. Later Cheryl spent some time teaching in the kids grade school. The desk was a gift from one of them. Now Anna is a science teacher. The two kiddos in the wreath next to the snow flakes are her first two flakes.

Over time the kids made and purchased ornaments. Grand children made ornaments. Great grandma purchased ornaments. Great grandma became an ornament after she passed from our lives and became a memory. Cheryl’s sister Nancy purchased a memorial ornament for all of us.

As our family grows and matures, our funny little narrow tree gains ornaments. Many of these hung on previous trees. We always had a “real” tree until Cheryl could no longer smell the piney scent. We had more room in the old place and displayed most of these on the branches of those.

Small people made these. The blue dog bone I glued back together this year. David made that when he was 8 or 9. I am pretty sure the tiny pizza was made by Anna. Grand-kids made the snowmen. These were made from some cute little kits Cheryl found somewhere.

We purchased this version of our fake tree in the fall before we downsized into our condo. Over the years we have had this tree I have attempted to straighten the little star on top to no avail. The star itself is about forty years old. Every year it tilts slightly differently and adds its own character to the display. And even though I did not purchase it for our condo, it works perfectly.