If Ornaments Could Talk
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas
By Denae Jones

Some Christmas tree ornaments do more than glitter and glow, they represent a gift of love given a long time ago.
~Tom Baker

I had a scheduled surgery around the holidays, so my family helped get the house ready for Christmas. In no time at all, the tree was standing with lights and ribbon in place, awaiting the ornaments. My husband brought out my carefully stored, highly coveted box labeled, “Tree ornaments and Grandma’s nativity set.” This ordinary box doesn’t look like anything special from the outside, but the inside is filled with treasures from years gone by.

Ever since my kids were small, I would gather them around the tree and tell them the story behind each ornament as they picked a special place to hang it. They were all teenagers with busy work and sports schedules now, but I still wanted to hold tight to our family tradition and decorate the tree together. It took three ridiculously long weeks for that day to come around. When did this get so difficult to arrange? With eager anticipation, I got everything out, put on the Christmas music, got the hot chocolate ready, and plugged in all the twinkly lights. (Keep reading)