Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Christmas Tree (10/09/08)
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TITLE: Christmas Memories | Previous Challenge Entry
By Debbie Kennedy
10/13/08 -
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My childhood memories still make Christmas special for me. It wasn’t what we got for
Christmas, because mother did not have the money for presents. Yet she made Christmas really special for us.
It all started on Christmas Eve, when we would go out to the woods to look for a tree. I remember the excitement of finding just the right tree, chopping it down, and tying it to the top of the old station wagon then hauling it home. Once we stood it up in the tree stand with sugar water we were ready to begin. First thing mother would do is pop popcorn then she would get her sewing kit out with needles and thread and we would began stringing popcorn on long strings to wrap around our tree. It took a lot of popcorn because most of it went into out mouths but mother didn’t care she just smiled as we worked and sang Christmas Carols. She also brought out dried berries for us to put on strings to give our tree some color and the pine combs we gathered out of the yard that she allowed us to paint and sprinkle with glitter. Then all seven of us girls made our own paper star cut it out and decorated it. One at a time she had each one of us pick out a place and hang our stars on the tree. By the time we got the tree decorated it was getting bedtime for several of us but mother let us all stay up until she opened the special box. One of the older girls got to take out the beautiful angel and put her on the top of the tree. Then mother carefully unwrapped the cradle, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. We also had the three Wiseman. I can remember holding my breath at times in the anticipation of seeing them all again. As a group we would first decide where the cradle would go. The last piece to be placed would always be baby Jesus. Each year mother let us take turns, which one of us got to lay baby Jesus in his cradle. Once Jesus was placed we all sat down in front of the tree as mother read to us from her bible the story of Jesus’ birth.
Then off to bed we would go as mother kissed us ever so softly and told us to hurry off to sleep because it would soon be Christmas morning. It was always hard for me to fall to sleep from the magical night we had just had, also knowing that in the morning when we got up we would find an apple, orange, and hard Christmas candy in our stockings. Plus once again I would get to see our Christmas tree. It wasn’t that our Christmas tree was that pretty. What made the magic of our Christmas tree was what was under our tree, baby Jesus. Mother always told us that baby Jesus was a gift of love given to each of us by our Heavenly Father. So He was our gift under our tree.
My mother is no longer with me, but the gift of her love, and the love of Jesus will never go away, as well as the memories of our Christmas tree.
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