More Than Just Ornaments

About the time my husband and I were going to celebrate our first Christmas together, my grandmother decided she didn’t need her Christmas tree ornaments and gave them to us. My mother provided the tree and some garlands. I made stained-glass ornaments, tied some bows, and hung a few candy canes on our tree, and when it was ready I realized that several generations were represented in its decorations.

Since that first Christmas, our children, family members, and friends have continued to contribute to our cache of Christmas decorations. Each year as we unwrap our stored decorations, we also unwrap memories. Now our tree includes decorations from both my family and my husband’s family. We joke that in our home at Christmas, we have a four-generation family tree.

I have listed each decoration and its original owner, and I keep the list with the decorations. As our children grow up and leave our home, we plan to give them four generations of Christmas decorations for their own family tree. We hope it will help them remember that families are what is really important at Christmas and for eternity.—Carolyn Johnston, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada

Illustrated by Scott Greer