Time to Shine

The time was here. We could hear the attic stairs being lowered. Soon we would start our journey. Where would we end up this year? Would we get new neighbors? Would we see something exciting?

We heard the muffled footsteps growing closer. We heard the dad kick the same wooden rocking chair he kicks every year. We were lifted and carefully carried down the stairs. We were placed on the floor amongst our brethren. Yippee!

Decoration Day!

Us ornaments, garland, nutcracker soldiers, and lights spend 11 months a year cooped up, tangled and mangled in old shoe boxes, storage totes and old shopping bags. The month of December was our time to shine.

We could see the tree. It was a 7 foot tall Douglas fir – nice. Full branches, healthy needles and almost perfectly straight in the corner. Kinda sad, I liked being by the bay window – but we were ready to do our jobs to the best of our abilities.

As strands of lights were tested – a few bulbs always had to be replaced. Sometimes they were just too tired after burning steadily for an entire month – or they just gave up hope after being in the dark for so long. Looks like the mom bought some new LED lights to go along the mantle – cool.

After the lights were wound around, garland comes next. Every other year the mom bought new – this was a re-use year. The iridescent blue made its way onto the branches.

Next came us – the ornaments. We are an eclectic bunch. Some of us were heirlooms, homemade, milestones and memories, and some were bought on sale long ago. We were placed one by one by the mom. Some of us were moved to the top after spending a few years near the bottom branches. Some of us were always placed in center and always in pairs. Mom and Dad’s first Christmas and baby’s first Christmas.

Sometimes a few ornaments were left in the box, sometimes one got thrown away and one year 3 of us were still on the tree when they put it on the curb!

We take our job seriously, always looking forward, never turned backwards. Some of our glitter or sequins had rubbed off after the years, but we still shine!

When the mother was done – her and the dad stood back to examine the results. We could see lights shining outside – the dad had been busy.

We ornaments had seen many things over the years. Large family gatherings, friendly neighborhood parties, quiet evenings with their son. The first couple of years when the dog was just a pup were kinda scary. Same goes for the baby’s 2nd Christmas – the first year he couldn’t reach us.

As the dad turned off the living room lamp and they sat on the sofa together – I noticed the dad placed his hand over the mom’s tummy. I wonder if the next Baby’s 1st Christmas ornament will be pink or blue?