Yesterday the Christmas decorations started going up around the house. I've found that in 30+ years of marriage I've accumulated way too many seasonal decorations, and never put them all up anymore. So this year I'm weeding them out and tossing some. Which sounds great, but isn't easy.
The biggest challenge for me is the handmade angel swag which I sewed together the first year we were married. I'm sure my children think it's quite ugly and can't imagine why it's survived this long. It is looking very sad these days - and truthfully it's not my taste anymore (too 1970s country style) but it evokes memories that are so dear that it breaks my heart to think about getting rid of it. I think about our first place together, of sitting at the sewing machine working with those scraps of material I managed to beg, borrow, and steal from relatives and friends because I couldn't afford to go out and buy new, and of hanging it up in our tiny little house when it was finally done. I remember it so well-the satisfaction I had in that completed treasure and the sense of peace and happiness in that house. Our first Christmas together as a family - with a tiny newborn baby of our own - and it was a magical time.
Sometimes items become so much more than the sum of their parts. I will probably throw it out - it's on the floor in a pile of other things that are going to the dump. But every time I pass it I feel a little tug at my heart. There it is, all of maybe two yards of fabric - with embroidered angel faces with bright green calico gowns, red bows, and white angel wings, all strung together in a long doorway swag. There are stains on the fabric and the bows are crushed, and its not much to look at. I can never bring myself to hang it anymore. But to me it represents the love and commitment that lived in that little house all those years ago, and hours of time spent at the sewing machine in an attempt to bring a little Christmas spirit into that house.
It may not look like much but it speaks volumes to me.
The biggest challenge for me is the handmade angel swag which I sewed together the first year we were married. I'm sure my children think it's quite ugly and can't imagine why it's survived this long. It is looking very sad these days - and truthfully it's not my taste anymore (too 1970s country style) but it evokes memories that are so dear that it breaks my heart to think about getting rid of it. I think about our first place together, of sitting at the sewing machine working with those scraps of material I managed to beg, borrow, and steal from relatives and friends because I couldn't afford to go out and buy new, and of hanging it up in our tiny little house when it was finally done. I remember it so well-the satisfaction I had in that completed treasure and the sense of peace and happiness in that house. Our first Christmas together as a family - with a tiny newborn baby of our own - and it was a magical time.
Sometimes items become so much more than the sum of their parts. I will probably throw it out - it's on the floor in a pile of other things that are going to the dump. But every time I pass it I feel a little tug at my heart. There it is, all of maybe two yards of fabric - with embroidered angel faces with bright green calico gowns, red bows, and white angel wings, all strung together in a long doorway swag. There are stains on the fabric and the bows are crushed, and its not much to look at. I can never bring myself to hang it anymore. But to me it represents the love and commitment that lived in that little house all those years ago, and hours of time spent at the sewing machine in an attempt to bring a little Christmas spirit into that house.
It may not look like much but it speaks volumes to me.
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