The Christmas Tree

Our first Christmas tree was sparely decorated. Hand-me-down ornaments were not yet part of our Christmas tradition. That first Christmas a couple of glass ornaments, a set of twelve china bells given to us by Mike's mom, tinsel and lights made for a very sparse tree.

After the tree was set up, we drove into town after work the next day to see if we could find a tree topper. I found nothing for the top of the tree that I liked or could afford. After walking up and down the aisles of the Five & Dime to see if I could find an alternative to the ready-made tree toppers, I settled on a silly little Styrofoam teddy bear.

When we returned home, I cut a hole in it to fit on the tree and thought to myself, "That will do until we can get something better"- little did I know that this silly teddy bear would be repaired, repainted and reused every Christmas since that first one in 1962.

After the first year, one ornament was bought for the tree and one for Mike. For their first Christmas, and every Christmas since, each of the children were given an ornament of their own. That way, when the children grew up and had their own trees they would have a bit of the tree they grew up with, and we'd still have enough to have a full-tree. Many of their ornaments have a story behind them as they told about things the kids were involved in or their interests. They got their new ornaments at dinner the night we put the tree up.

Through the years we got hand-me-down ornaments from Mike's childhood tree and from the tree I grew up with at my grandparents house. Friends gave us ornaments as gifts and soon we had a tree full of unique ornaments. Some of them are the children's art projects and we also made some of the ornaments. The red carved candles were made by Mike as a gift for me.

The following three ornaments are from my grandparents' tree. The kitty became a play toy for our cats one year, and is much the worse for wear with out his ears and the paint on his body - I love him anyway. Don't remember if he met his fate the year the cats decide to climb the tree and knocked it down. That happened only once - from then on we tied our real trees to the wall with fishing line.

In the background is one of the original bells from Mike's mom. I have since found another set from the same era - however, the new ones are minitures of these bells.

The little green frog always brings a chuckle. Don't you wonder about her story? I'd love to be able to date her to see if she might have begun life on the tree of my great-grandparents.


Some of the ornaments, like this little house, are no longer perfect. This ornament was also on my grandparents' tree and has always been one of my favorites. I never remember it with a chimney. Also in this photo is a tin icicle - we have four originals from their tree. Over the years I found newer versions of this old-fashioned ornament so now the tree is full of them - like tinsel but easier to put on and take off the tree. They twist in the air and reflect light off of the tree.


Some of the ornaments were hand-made by friends and family. The large circular ornament is one of a pair with different scenes that my sister made for me. Susan is no longer with us although she is always with me in spirit. Her first grandchild was born last May. This ornament, made by a grandmother she will never know, will be given to McKinley for her first Christmas tree - the tradition goes on. Mike made a ladder and I made an elf like the one that sits by our tree for my sister one year. I do not know which of Susan's five children have it now - or if still sits by the tree in the home where her children grew up.

When Rob was away at college the first year, John was upset his older brother was not here when we put up the tree. So, the following year we went out and purchased an artificial tree so we all could put up the tree when Rob was home for Thanksgiving break. We trimmed the tree the day after Thanksgiving and that day became the traditional day for trimming the tree at our house. We have never gone back to a real tree. That is probably a good thing since the one and only fight Mike I had in a year occurred annually when we went looking for a tree.

We also have a smaller tree that is filled with houses, snowflakes, candles and crystal.

As the kids moved out, their box of Christmas ornaments went with them. No longer are there transformers and Star Wars ornaments on the tree. Yet,there are many ornaments they consider part of the tree of their childhood memories. The rest are on their trees at home, if they choose to hang them.



















There is one thing however that is not a Christmas tradition. At my house the furniture is always on the move. Mike insists that sneeking in was never an option for our children, nor was going to the kitchen in the dark because the furniture might be in a different place than you remembered and you'd likely trip. Lately, what started out as our living room and a family room have changed uses too. Now, one room is used as the dining room - and depending on the year, it could be in either room. So, the Christmas tree is seldom in the same place two years in a row.