This past Sunday afternoon, our family put up the Christmas tree. It is an older 9 ft tree that is assembled in 3 parts. The bottom section of this tree has had the lights replaced and they actually work. The other 2 sections have lights that do not work so we just add 2 strings of lights and the tree looks fine. I am often asked why I don’t just buy a new tree and I answer that this one is a beautifully shaped full tree with plenty of strong branches to hold our vast collection of ornaments. And I mean we have lots of things from our parents and grandparents, as well as the especially sweet things made by our children and grandchildren. There are old glass ornaments and tiny angels from my grandmother’s tree, beaded birds with feathers from my mom’s tree, all of the soft cloth ornaments from when our kids were small, and ornaments from places we have travelled. My special favorites are the glue and glitter treasures made of macaroni, the painted dough dove that looks like a duck, and the very unique black construction paper cut out snowflake made many years ago by our now 50-year-old son. Not everyone is so lucky to have a black snowflake to adorn their Christmas tree. What treasures do you hold dear? Tell the stories of Christmases past to your family. Enjoy the season!