Have you ever had something that you just couldn't bear to throw away? Something so near and dear to your heart, no matter how messed up it is, you just cannot give it up... Have you ever run in to that problem before? What do you do when you just *know* it can't hang around any longer?
You give it to your kids of course!
A hundred years ago... well, not quite that long ago, but ages ago, our daughter came home from school with a beautiful handmade Christmas wreath. She had cut the center out of a paper plate, colored the round part that was left, then took pieces of construction paper and made rings. She strung the rings together, added dots of 'berries', glued it all together in wreath fashion and brought it home for mommy and daddy to enjoy.
We enjoyed it for many, many years. It started by hanging on the wall, but in time it started sagging. I pullled it out one year and realized it was sagging too much to even attempt to hang it, so at that time it became a ring around a candle - a place it held for many, many years. One year I pulled it out and sadly it had become crinkled; too crinkled to even work around the candle, so I gently placed it up on the piano so we could still enjoy its presence. And enjoy we did - for many, many more years.
Years passed, kids grow and you feel confident that they are settled enough that you can pass your precious treasures to them to carry on the traditions that you held close to your heart.
Enter the wreath, the bell and the snowman:
This year, Steph pulled out her Christmas treasures and while we were pawing through them, we found her wreath. I am sad to say I think it is nearly done. After 27 years or so, it has nearly met its maker and turned back to the very dust it started from. It is very, very close. We may get another year or two out of it, but I think the memories will soon be just the pictures that we have taken over the years - and I am sure there are many. For today, I will pretend it is still in pristine condition and enjoy the memories; the pride she felt when she brought it home to us, the warmth we felt when we pull these treasures out every year and the memories of the dear children who make our life so rich.
Awww, those memories are what keeps me going year after year. How many 'remember whens' can fill a lifetime? Never enough. One more year, one more memory, one more smile.
Makes like worth living, doesn't it? Thanks for those memories!
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