posted on December 25, 2005 03:13:36 PM new
Christmas makes me sentimental. Looking at my tree today I started to think about a little tissue covered box that hung on our tree since I was old enough to notice. When my sister and I split up my Mother's things after she died I found it and now it hangs on my tree. This made me wonder about other traditions that are special with other families.
This little match box wrapped in tissue (that must have been red at one time) and decorated with gummed Christmas seals hung on my parents tree from the early 1930 and now hangs on mine. It was a story my sister and I loved when we were little. My parents were married young in the depression and had very little money. One Christmas early in their marriage Daddy saw a ring with an Indian Head Penny on it. That was all he wanted for Christmas. Mother wrapped up a match box and hung it on the tree. He stopped every time he passed and looked at it. They were going to an Aunt's for Christmas and when they were an hour down the road she said "Oh no I forgot the box hanging on the tree!" He was crushed but on Christmas morning she had the ring wrapped in a larger box.
I would love to hear about family traditions you might have.
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“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
[ edited by photosensitive on Dec 25, 2005 07:06 PM ]
posted on December 25, 2005 05:33:55 PM new
How sweet, photosensitive. Hope you write that down and put it with the box for future generations.
I added the 25th ornament to our tree this year - one for every year we (my husband & I) have been together.
posted on December 26, 2005 11:04:25 AM new
Tomwii, please post a sound file of Ralphie's star turn! My Lacy wants to hear it.
Ladyjewels, hope you keep collecting ornaments till you need a REALLY big tree!
My family always put up the tree just before Christmas and left it up till 12th night so we have 11 more days of Christmas in our house.
Hope all the Outlookers had a wonderful time! -----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on December 26, 2005 11:14:29 AM new
My husband comes from Switzerland and we grew up with very different holiday celebrations. I have to say our children have been raised more in keeping with my American traditions but on Christmas morning we made up a tradition that incorporates both backgrounds.
In Switzerland, the father of the house sets up the Christmas tree and puts out presents from "Christ Kindel" on Christmas Eve . The parlor doors remain closed until the family has finished supper. Then the father checks out the parlor to see if "Christ Kindel" has come and then rings a bell so the family can come into the room and see the splendor of the tree and the presents.
Santa brings presents to our famly room fireplace (in the lower level) and no one is allowed to go down until Emil checks to see if Santa has come. He then rings a bell and we all come down (alternating oldest to youngest one year and youngest to oldest the next) My children are now in their 20's and we still have Santa!!
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posted on December 26, 2005 11:17:28 AM new
Our tradition is that the tree has to be down before New Years or you carry the old year into the new. Not a problem this year. Since the PUs house was supposed to be done in December, the decorations were one of the first things taken to the storage unit. Last week I found a tinker toy tree that a vendor had sent a few years ago that was in the back of a drawer - that was our Christmas tree. Took 5 minutes to assemble, should take about 3 to take down.
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Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
posted on December 26, 2005 07:28:28 PM new
On Christmas eve, we always have readings from Luke and John, followed by Christmas carols, followed by my mom's best recollection of Twas the night before Christmas. Then the kids can open 1 present ONLY. Christmas morning, we open one present at a time, oldest person first. It's fun to watch the squirmy youngest, waiting for their turn to open a present!
posted on December 26, 2005 07:45:22 PM new
Cool Hand Luke and John Updike?
Interesting merging of Southern and Suburban angst?
"What we have here is a failure to co-mun-eee-cate," said the Warden to Rabbit?
"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That's what I'm telling you." —George W. Bush, Gulfport, Miss., Sept. 20, 2005
posted on December 29, 2005 08:32:49 AM new
Sorry to respond so late....but I wanted to say, photosensitive, what a 'treasure' you have there. Things like that make Christmas so much nicer....carrying on traditions.
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One of our family traditions is reciting, by memory, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas. My husbands grandparents started it and it's still something we look forward to doing each year. We too have Christmas decorations that are five generations old now. Treasures, true treasures of the heart.
posted on December 29, 2005 10:58:21 AM new
Thanks Linda, the little box is very special to me.
When I put it on the tree this year I realized that someone finding it after I am gone (not too soon I hope!) will have no idea of what it is and what it means. We have no children to pass it on to. Maybe my sister's boys will care about it someday. It seems that young people lack the gene for sentimentality. Maybe it comes with age.
I think that is one of the reasons we collect photographs. Many of them are objects that someone cared about very much. You can almost feel an aura clinging to some of the most poignant.
Happy 5th day of Christmas to all! 5 gold rings would be a nice gift!
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on December 30, 2005 06:08:04 AM new
My tradition is to leave the tree up until all the needles have fallen off and it becomes a fire hazard. This has been going on in my family for years, and will probably continue for years to come.
I think photosensitive's is much nicer - you should really write that down somewhere for someone to find in the future. I love finding old items that have notes or a little history on them - I think they are some of my favorite finds!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caroline
Caroline