I loved this piece Kris, especially as we approach the holiday season. My Mom grew up after the depression and during WWII to a family who didn’t have much. She passed away on December 14th 2000 at age 62 due to many complications brought on by diabetes. She was always decorating immediately after Thanksgiving and leaving the Christmas decorations up well after the first of the year before it became trendy.
We always thought of her as the good kind of hoarder. She saved the twist ties from bread, paper bags from the grocery store and boxes of all kinds so she could use them to wrap Christmas presents. She also saved lots of things for that special day that never came because she died too young and we found many of those things after her passing. I have a box filled with homemade Christmas ornaments that she had given me about 30 years ago to share with my future wife when we decorated our first tree together. I’m now 56 and have never married and yet another Christmas will most likely come and go with my annual tradition of not putting up a tree just for myself.
I think this Christmas I’ll open that box which has been sealed all this time and think of my Mom. It may not be a candle that was long forgotten or a bottle of champagne that was never uncorked, but it was meant to be enjoyed during a special time of year by a truly wonderful woman and after reading your article I’ve decided it’s better to enjoy those ornaments by myself this year rather than to wait and enjoy them on a day which may never come.
