When I was 16, I was a pretty typical self absorbed 16 year old. I was in the choir at my small high school, and we were booked to walk around and sing Christmas carrols at the Old Soldiers and Sailors retirement Home. I did NOT want to go. Old people were icky. Disabled people? Scary. Old and disabled? Forget about it. But I went, because I would fail the class if I didn’t go.

We went up and down the halls singing for the residents. It had that hospital smell and I hated it. One of the nurses came up with a man in a wheelchair. His name was Mickey. He wanted to go through the halls with us so he could hear us sing, so she pushed him along with us. He was “icky”. He was frail, and needed a shave. He couldn’t talk. He drooled. I was mortified. At the end of the hall, Mickey started to get animated and told the nurse something. She told us that he loved our singing and that he wanted to sing to us to thank us.

We all gathered around Mickey as he tried to sing O Holy Night. He had a very difficult time as he could barely speak, and it was hard for him to breathe, but he got it all out. Call it the Christmas spirit, or whatever, but something touched me then and there. I felt compassion for the man and I was touched by his simple gesture. All of us self-absorbed teenagers and our choir director, and Im pretty sure the nurse and maybe Mickey cried at the end. It was one of those God moments that sneak up on you. For me, it was a life changing experience. I looked at people differently. I changed my perspective about people with disabilities, and even made working with them my career for a while.

O Holy Night is now my favorite Christmas song. Every year for the last 20 or so, when its really quiet in my house at Christmas time, I play that song, and light a candle in my dark house and think about Mickey and how he changed my life.

In the 80’s we didn’t live near family so every Christmas several families in our town got together to have dinner together. We had a 5$ gift exchange that adults and kids participated in-all 40 or so of us! Anyway, there are several gifts that I remember from those years. One year, when the oldest kids started buying their own things to bring, there were cigars, chewing tobacco, and Mogen David wine. All of the young teens ended up with them and promptly went outside to smoke, chew, and drink. About an hour later all were GREEN. One gift that made the rounds each year was the most hideous tie I’ve ever seen. I think it’s still in my mother’s closet!

your fleurs made me smile. When my sister was about 3 she would pick clover off the front lawn and give it to my mom, sometimes dandelions too, and she couldn’t say “flowers” yes so she’s day fluuurrrrrssss, then it was flouies no r? sweet.

traditions just kind of happen, I Love them. My MIL gave me that exact embrodery hoop, potpourie gift, it’s peach I have a set of two in my bathroom, they no longer smell of peach but I keep them, I dust them. She gavethem to me I think a year after I met my husband? I can’t remember what occasion it was. She also made me a shy Doll, she’s in my landry room.

A tradition I started with my hubbie, started with my mom, she had a students chair ornament she had bought at a craft fair, it’s just a chair with books on it, hubbie was in University, it was our first Christmas. I bought him a sweater too, with mom’s money! he still wears it, actually fits in it better now then then, ha! but the student chair goes in the same place on teh tree every year, the following year I bought him a cat with 1993 stamped on a ball, the next year was something else with 1994, and now he buys me a family ornamonet for us, this year it’s a hallmark Owl on a 2008, last year ws a bunny. It takes a bit of work to find dated ornaments before they are sold out. We had bought eh boys one each since they were born too, but I’ve had to stop that, because the price of those ornaments has doubled. I”ve decided we get to 5 then that’s it! they can have them when they move out, I think by then I’ll be ready for more new!

Love the baby in a stocking story!

I’ve actually gotten a lot of head-scratchers from some family members that shall remain unnamed. I’d rather get nothing than some strange tv infomercial thing just because they wanted to have something to wrap up for me.

I can’t think of anything homemade like your potpourri holder in quite a while. But Kjeristy did make me a couple of homemade dolls about 3″ tall to keep me company and sent them to me for Halloween (actually my favorite holiday). But the kids do know when there is a present for them that comes from me. It all started about 12 years ago when I started learning how to fly. The VFR charts that you use to navigate have some of the most beautiful colors on them, and since the charts are only good for a little while most pilots have stacks of them laying around. So That year I wrapped everyone’s presents in Flight Charts. Now to keep from going overboard I only wrap present each that way, but everytime someone finds their’s they know exactly who it came from…