Christmas Past

Our first Christmas after we were only married two months, we had no ornaments. I improvised and used all of the white bows from our wedding, it was thrifty and pretty too.  Fred was so excited for me to open my huge gift. It was an orange garbage can with mushrooms that matched my canister set. (It was 70’s) No points there buddy.

Our second Christmas, he waited until Christmas Eve. He did not believe me when I told him our small town did not stay open. So that year I got no presents. No kidding.

Our third year was like can you top this. Fred bought a tree without me and it was a squatty bush. I tried everything to save it. I kept imagining that it would be like the Charlie Brown tree in the annual Christmas Special. Nope, it still sucked. I even bought red Christmas bulbs, our first real ornaments. Annie was 14 months old she was like most toddlers, inquisitive and lively. There were a few leftover red bulbs that I put in a big bowl on the table. Annie came in with the glass bulb in her hand. She thought it was an apple and took a big bite out of it. Yep you guessed it. She swallowed glass and I spent Christmas week at ER’s, doctors and sifting through poop diapers to see if she passed the pieces that showed up in her X-Rays.

Each year we have treasured mishaps or events that have become blessed memories. We made our own Martin Family traditions because we lived far away from family. We would have fondue on Christmas Eve, hide our stockings, and go to the beach on Christmas Day. When we first moved to Florida, I brought a little tree to the beach on Christmas, took the kids pictures in Santa hats and mailed the photo north when there was a blizzard just to rub it in. Ho Ho Ho.