Memories

Le Pen Sketch with watercolor  5 x 5" Multi-media sketch book

The day after Thanksgiving...It's is sort of like the first day of Christmas now, isn't it?  I know some people are out shopping 'til they drop and that is THEIR tradition.  But our tradition has it that we put up our tree and take out the home decorations and put the Christmas CDs in the player.  Advent starts on Sunday and at church will be "hanging the greens".  Same sort of feeling there too.  I press out the festive holiday table cloths and  look for the wreath to hang on the door.  Despite the palm trees here, Christmas comes just the same!!!    

The smell of turkey still hangs over the kitchen but the wine glasses are washed and put away for now...so green and red takes over the orange and rust color schemes. 

One of the assignments for my sketching class is to sketch "something from the holidays".  So I as I unpacked all those ornaments again this morning I first off rejoiced that I was here to do this familiar task again. And then I lovingly held the angel that has followed us over the years from house to house, smiled over grandson Ben's ceramic ornament, the snowflake I got at breast cancer support's Christmas party so many years ago, the ornaments we collected in our travels...the nutcracker from Germany, the tiny velvet crown from England, the hand woven basket from Kentucky...etc.  So many of the ornaments have a story behind them.  I am sure it is the same for you.

I chose this ornament, hand stitched in yarn for my drawing, however, because it held more memories that I could even imagine.  We give our houses names.  "7 Mile House" was our WI home for 20 years in WI.  It was the first house for Greg and I after we got married 23 years ago.  All our children were married while we lived there and all 12 of our grandchildren were born while we lived there.  The memories piled up like the snow drifts all around the nice ranch house out in the country (7 miles from 4 different towns!).  How we hated to sell it.  But after we retired in 1999, it was time to move on.  

When my friend Kendra made this ornament for us we treasured it as it would remind us of those wonderful times there.  And then, last August, way before her time, Kendra died after a short 3 month illness.  So this is our first Christmas without her.  When this ornament came out of the box, there were tears.  But also smiles.  All those wonderful Christmases with her.  Kendra had the most jolly and infectious laugh. I can hear it still.

Dear Kendra, I loved you well.