Thursday, December 1, 2011

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 1 - The Christmas Tree


Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 1 - The Christmas Tree

Whether I will be able to sustain daily blogging in the busy leadup to Christmas I do not know.  I am starting off with good intentions with my maiden post in The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories proposed by Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.Australian blogger, Shelley, from Twigs of Yorehas started the ball rolling from downunder with her post and I am following suit.

New Christmas Tree 1978
My first three children are pictured in 1978 in our sparsely furnished new home with our brand new tree purchased  from David Jones Department Store. We continued to use this tree  for thirty years until we replaced it with a newer, smaller model in 2008. This 6 foot high plastic pine  gave thirty years of good service and no doubt could tell many stories. It must have been of good quality as it is still in mint condition: it is packed away in our garage - I cannot part with something that has been so significant in our celebration of Christmas. It was the centrepiece for our celebrations over three decades in three family homes.

The decorations we used on the tree were not glamourous and did not change much from year to year. From 1984 the angel that perched on top of the tree was one made by our son in his kindergarten year; it wasn't too flash but it was made with love and we used it until its ping-pong ball head disintegrated a few years ago. Our tree was not a decorator item but a physical reminder of family Christmas traditions.
Grandchildren trim the tree - 2004

This post was written for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories First published in 2010

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I have never thought that a tree should be a decorator item. Iut f that is what a person wishes, I won't object; but my idea of a tree is a symbol of family love and warmth. The ornaments my children made, the ornaments that survived my childhood and that they treasured are what I remember about our Christmas trees. For me, it's about love, not about making a show.

FranE said...

I remember my daughter with her first Christmas tree after she moved from the battered women's shelter. It was small but hers. She picked up real pine cones, made paper snow flakes and we gave her some lights and garland. She was in heaven. Christmas is for uplifting our hearts.
FranEllsworth

Anonymous said...

It's been interesting to read the various stories so far about Xmas and see the pictures too. There's a similarity between them, no matter how different each may be. I think that's because of the importance of the event in making us happy and building family memories. We had to dispose of our tree a few years ago -daughter #2 had it and it just kept shedding branches. Like yours it had lasted us 30+ years.

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