Seasons for All

The Season of Giving

About five years ago, I wrote a poem right as the holiday season was beginning.  Below is an excerpt fron that poem that includes my favorite word, believe.  Annie is my niece and Sherryl is my sister.

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For it’s all about family and friends who are dear

And about choosing behaviors from love and not fear.

It’s now the holiday season, my time to thrive

And to relish the thrill of being alive.

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I’ll spend time with Annie to teach her the ropes

How to make Christmas so special and to inspire her hopes.

Hope is Annie’s favorite word as we learned recently

You see Sherryl is collecting favorite words from family.

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So Annie’s is Hope, Sherryl’s is Imagine

Mine is Believe as in all that can happen

To people we love and to ourselves if we’re true

To generosity and integrity in all that we do.

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Mom and Dad’s legacy of love will live on

In my sisters and me and we’ll pass the baton

To each of our children and their children, too

The lesson of Giving – because you want to.

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I'm hosting a special holiday giveaway over at Seasons for All at Home.  Click here to learn more.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

I saw in a grocery store last week a good friend's ex-boyfriend.  My first thought when I saw him was to turn and head in the other direction.  I didn't want to exchange a single word with him.  High school sweethearts, he and my friend were together for a handful of years, then on and off for a couple of decades.  When they were together, he joined her at the homes of family and friends for all special occasions and was very much a part of her family.  I remember his being hilariously funny, but his humor stemmed from a quirkiness that was scary-odd.  He wore weird shoes, by choice.  That wasn't the scary-odd part, but it was indicative of something.  In her teens, my friend adopted the same strange taste in shoes. 

As I drove home that afternoon, I tried to imagine how my good friend's life would be now if they'd stayed together.  I pondered for a while variations in emotional health and deduced that, even though it was her decision to end the relationship, her hopes for domestic bliss were dashed once and for all when that relationship finally ended.  Sad, really.  To this day, his influence on her is clearly evident to me in several ways, starting with her shoes.

A couple of days later, a young woman who looked vaguely familiar approached me when I was shopping at the local mall.  As she said aloud my first name with inflections of a question being asked, I suddenly recognized her as a member of a department I had managed over 20 years ago.  I had invested time in her professional development but did not keep in touch with her after I left that employer in 1989.  She gave me a hug then pointed across the way to a young man who I assumed was her boyfriend -- because he looked only slightly younger than she was when we worked together.  But the young man wasn't her boyfriend, he was her son.  She asked about my sister, mentioned a mutual friend, then wished me Merry Christmas and turned to rejoin her son.  As I walked in the other direction, I remembered a few of the Christmas gifts I had given to her and her teammates.  But more than that, I was struck by the fact that she has become a truly stunning woman.  Time, lots of it, had passed and I wished we had had a longer visit.  

Today, I was driving through town and a young man was walking on the side of the road just ahead of me.  On the back of his sweatshirt was printed the last name of a former boyfriend of mine.  Same name, just spelled differently.  As factoids about this old flame began to surface, I caught a glimpse of the front of the sweatshirt.  It displayed the name of an Ivy League college.  It was not the same one my old boyfriend had attended; nonetheless, it was one of them.  My first date with him was the day after Christmas, so I usually think of him this time of year.  And, like my good friend, he and I were on and off for a while.  I haven't seen him in years and if I were to see him somewhere now, it's hard to say what I'd do.  Sometimes it's fun to catch up, sometimes it's best to let memories be.

Over the past few weeks as I've conjured up cookie dough and all the magic that goes with a Christmas Eve tradition with my family, I have recalled with much fondness and love the Christmas celebrations my mother and father created for my sisters and me.  They were always full of surprises and they were always full of love.  My father has been gone for over 25 years and my mother for more than 15 years.  It is so much fun to be able to create for my children and grandchildren the same holiday traditions I had when I was young.

The late Dan Fogelberg wrote and sang a lovely song called "Same Old Lang Syne" in which the storyteller runs into an old lover in a grocery story on Christmas Eve.  Initial awkwardness is acknowledged, but the couple spends time catching up and then parts ways returning to their current lives.  Since so many people are in their hometowns during the holiday season, the odds of running into old acquaintances are exponentially higher during the last 2 weeks in December than any other time of year.  And running into old acquaintances isn't always as it was for the couple in Fogelberg's song.  Sometimes it's just the opposite.

Ebenezer Scrooge, for example, experienced a high level of stress when he met The Ghost of Christmas Past in Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. Scrooge encountered only one ghost.  I have crossed paths with more than one this season.  Some in the flesh and some in my mind.  They're not all scary ghosts.  In fact, some of them surface the sweetest Christmas memories I hold.

Favorite Christmas Decor

It's nearly impossible for me to choose a favorite Christmas decoration.  I inherited my mother's decorating gene and so I've collected holiday decor for many years.  In taking photos of my  Christmas decor for a few holiday home tours, I've chosen a photograph that includes two Christmas treasures. 

 

On the left is a music box given to my sisters and me by our grandparents when we were little girls.  My grandmother added a little tag to a wing on each angel and, on the tag, was written my sister's and my names.  The cloud upon which the angels kneel is turned to wind the music box and, as the music plays, the cloud slowly turns like a carousel.  My mother always placed it on top of the piano during the Christmas season, not far from the creche.  The song in this music box is "Silent Night." 

And on the right, is a photo of my sons when they were little boys.  I love the taffeta plaid-covered frame and, of course, I love this photo of my sons.  I dressed them in red and green sweaters because, in those days, my parents, in-laws, and grandparents wanted nothing more for Christmas than photographs of my children.  I love this photo of my sons for a few reasons, including the fact that my younger son is holding two small footballs and neither of my boys had lost any teeth yet!

There are so many more holiday decorations that are favorites, sentimental treasures that elicit from with me a palpable joy for the season.  Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the entire year because my whole family gathers in my home, a long-standing tradition begun by my mother. 

For those visiting by way of Pink Saturday, special thanks to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for hosting this fun holiday edition of this weekly fun.

Holiday Home Tour

Welcome to my home!  Christmas decorations were everywhere to be found in our home when I was growing up, thanks to my mother who grew up with very little and my father who loved Christmas as much as my mother loved it.  I've inherited the Christmas decorating gene and have carried on the tradition of having our family gather together at my house on Christmas Eve.  This day has come to be my favorite day of the year. 

Naturally there are stories to tell for each photograph below, but I'll simply invite you to tour my home room by room.  Thank you for visiting!

 

~ The Kitchen ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ The Dining Room ~

 

 

 

 ~ The Living Room ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Hallway ~

 

~ Powder Room ~

 

~ Bedroom ~

 

 

 

 

 

~ The Tea Room ~

 

 

 

~ Back to the Living Room ~

 

 

Happy Holidays!

 

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Be sure to visit these holiday home parties: Southern Hospitality, Hooked on Houses, Nesting Place, Thrify Decor Chick, Funky Junk Interiors, My Romantic Home, and The Inspired Room.