I remember growing up one of our Christmas traditions was to go and pick a new ornament for our tree. My mom would have the ornament engraved with our name and the year. In the beginning, Mom would select the ornament for my brother and I but as we became a bit older, we were able to select our own. I never really understood how incredibly special this tradition was until I moved out on my own. I had a collection of then 25 ornaments that I could decorate my own tree with. Each year as I unpack my decorations, my heart swells with excitement and pride as I carefully unwrap each ornament and gaze at the markings on the piece. I can remember the exact thing I was into at the time with
almost every ornament. I know that at one time, I loved horses and had selected an ornament to represent that temporary obsession. I also remember when I begged my mom to let me have a dalmation and she compromised with this...
PS. I got my dalmation but it was several years later!
Each ornament holds so much meaning for me. My Daddy would sing jingles to my brother and I in the morning to wake us up for school. His specialty, the Howdy Doody theme song! The year I lost him, I knew there wasn't any other ornament that was more fitting than this.
We eventually moved on from the brass ornaments to special Hallmark ornaments. I also began gifting my Mom and Dad with ornaments so that when my brother and I moved on, they would have something to decorate their own tree with since we snagged all the ornaments!
As I grow up, I still receive an ornament each year from my mom. She gifted us this one when we moved in our new house
I love this ornament tradition and I am looking forward to continuing it with my own son or daughter one day.
