Christmas Tree

462 words

I am going to enjoy my ornaments for a whole year!
by Dianne Roth

This year I put up my Christmas tree the week before Thanksgiving. I plan to leave it up the whole year. I was inspired by a cousin who lives in a beautiful cabin in the Black Forest of Colorado. 

He said, "We enjoy it so much, we decided to not take it down." 

I thought it was odd, but the idea has grown on me. I bought an artificial tree last year during the after holiday mark downs. 

Because of travel and the vagaries of family, it has been a couple of years since I put up a tree. While I have not missed the hassle and the needles, I have missed my ornaments and thought it would be fun to see them for more than just a week. 

Of course, there are the ornaments that my children made for me when they were little:  twisted rings of pipe cleaners, hand painted plaster Santas, and curtain ring frames with their school pictures in them. 

There are the ornaments my mother made for me and for my children: crocheted bells, felt stockings, and a beaded Christmas tree. 

A few of my students brought me things they had made by themselves or with the help of a parent. The ones I put names on are especially precious. 

I have a collection of ornaments that have been made by friends over the years. They hang together, in a special spot on the tree, reminding me of how much friendships mean to me. 

There are two very old ornaments that my father's sister made. She rolled up pieces of Christmas cards and put them inside of ancient pill bottles and covered the lids with foil. They hang along with a few other ornaments that hung on my grandparents’ trees, 90 years ago. 

I made the fuzzy sheep, Oreo cookies, and ice skates with paper clip blades. 

One area has birds and another some fragile ornaments I made when I had my tonsils out at seven years old. There are some that just caught my eye and were added to the collection, and there is a bird nest hidden in the branches.

There are only a couple of glass balls on the tree. They are ordinary compared to the precious ones that come with a story.  

One such ornament is a styrofoam ball with some sprinkles of glitter that have all but disappeared. It has a few unattractive beads on the  hanging wire. It was given to me by the Avon Lady. It might have ended up in the trash were it not for the tiny teeth marks where my son took a bite. It has a spot where I will see it every time I walk by… from now until next Christmas. 

Happy holidays to all!

Dianne Roth is a teacher, mother, grandmother, and freelance writer. She lives in Oregon.