My grandparents started a tradition with my mom and her brothers and she has passed that tradition down to me and my siblings. I have a huge family, and we have a lot of traditions, but this one is by far my favorite! Each year, after our Thanksgiving meal, my parents and grandparents would give each of us an ornament for our Christmas tree. The ornament was usually something silly, but signified something we did or accomplished that year. I am now 25, with a husband and a house of my own, but my tree is still littered with 50 of the most random, fun Christmas ornaments. 

I have glittery piñata (for the year I learned Spanish), a huge mouth (for the year I became a speech language pathologist), and a doll with a bandaid on her knee (for the year I had my first knee surgery). There are also some serious ones, like a big diamond ring (for the year I got engaged), a cross (for the year I made my First Holy Communion), a shell (for the year we honeymooned in St. Lucia), and a pair of baby shoes from my grandparents (for my first Christmas in 1994).

My mom religiously decorated the house for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. We would take all the ornaments out of the attic, which, by the time I moved out, each of my siblings and I had our own huge box of ornaments. As a family, we would put our ornaments on the tree and reminisce about the memories that came with each ornament. I still think about the trumpet ornament my brother got the year he graced our house with his newly learned trumpet skills and the octopus my sister got when she had a fit in the Monterey Aquarium and her curly hair was going in a million different directions.

I now enjoy picking out an ornament for my husband to open each Thanksgiving. This year, I got him a big, salted pretzel, because we took our first trip to Germany earlier this spring (and ate more than our fair share of pretzels with beer!) I can’t wait to continue this tradition with our kids someday and I hope they pass it along, too. 

As I think about Thanksgiving, of course, I think about our ornament tradition and the years of memories passed. But, I also think about all the years to come. I think about what our tree will look like in 5 years, and in 25 years. I think about what will be my children’s favorite ornaments...which ones will make them proud and which ones will make them laugh. In all these things, I think about family. I think about what a gift it is to have a family, and to have a family that not just loves each other, but likes each other. I do not take lightly the fact that out of anyone in the world I could choose to hang out with, I would choose them. Jobs, health, friends, money...it all comes and goes, but family...they’re the ones that weather the roughest of storms and cruise the most beautiful sunsets with you. Hold them close, today and everyday.

...mg