When I was growing up, my mom had a unique tradition at Christmas. Aside from putting up the tree upside down (read previous blog post), my mom would keep all of the Christmas cards we had received over the years and would use them to fan out underneath the tree in lieu of a tree blanket. I had never seen anyone else do this. It became a big part of Christmas because I would often sit underneath the tree and pick out cards and read them. This would often open up a discussion about old family friends or people that my parents had in their lives that we did not know. I really enjoyed this tradition. It allowed me to learn about my parents and I was fascinated to learn about their stories and lives before us.
So when we moved into our family home, it was a tradition that I continued on. However, instead of placing the cards under the tree, we place the cards to hang from our window blinds.
We decorated the house yesterday for Christmas and we had a lot of fun. Christmas music, the Santa Hats, reindeer headbands – plenty of snacks – it was great.
And while everyone took a break from the decorating, I took some quiet time for myself to decorate with our Christmas cards of the past. It is truly is a special time. There were cards featuring photos of babies who are now grown kids, lovely messages from teachers, family members and friends. Cards between my husband and myself, reflecting on the past year. But especially special for me is finding cards from my mom, before she lost the ability to write, with sweet messages that only she could write.
Those mean a lot and it feels like my mom is still with us, celebrating, at least in spirit. My mom loved the holidays. She loved fruitcake and decorating the house. I miss my mom at Christmas a lot. She loved to sing Carols and make beautiful wreaths.
I hope that I can pass on the legacy of the cards to my kids and that when they are older, they will have this tradition of my mom to carry on.
But that’s just one Diva’s view.
Happy Holidays!
#traditions #Christmas
Diva's View 