Christmas Memories . . . Awaiting the New Year

What is it about the day after Christmas? Are you glad the hustle and bustle is over? Have you cleaned up the discarded wrapping paper and bows? Has everyone taken their goodies to their rooms or are they still sitting under the tree? Did you eat all the leftovers from your Christmas feast? Have you started to return or exchange gifts that weren’t exactly right? Are you catching up an all those cards and letters, updating your mailing list for next Christmas? 

Have you already started to take down the tree and decorations? Are all the parties over? Did you put a few extra pounds? All of these and I am sure more things crowd your mind, fill your days, and make you wonder if it was all worth it?                            

Of course it was!                

So as you wait to change the calendar, you make plans for the New Year. Do you make resolutions or do you wait to see what happens? Are you resolved and determined to make changes? Stay steadfast and persevere, make promises and pledges, find solutions and answers? Yes, you will do all the above. And the one goal I wish to inspire you to attain if you haven’t already done so with the encouragement from this blog, is to Create your Family Museum! Or at least begin to think about doing it and then do it!

I have written 141 blogposts that instruct, inform, edify and entertain. Loaded with how-to ways & means, inspiration, personal thoughts and links to websites that offer even more information. There is no excuse as to why one would not want to have a Family Museum in their home, apartment, workplace, anywhere you call home. All obstacles and challenges can be met. But it is up to you, however, not you alone. The history you preserve and display is your family’s history, their stories, their lives. Make it as grand as you can. Share it with all family members, friends, and on your social networks. Spread the word. Share the love of family.  

Here are a few poignant quotes that express the importance of creating a Family Museum:
“There’s a world of wisdom in our personal stories. Your life is a legacy, a gift that only you can give. Why waste something so precious?”  &  “Too many Americans have ignored their ancestors and family history and not bothered to examine their own life stories, much less share them with others. They, too, rarely share much of their past lives with friends, or pass them on to their progeny. And yet we desperately need to do all that . . .”      Dolly Berthelot

“Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your children’s children.”   Deuteronomy

“If you don’t recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them, too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.”      Madeleine L’Engle  

May your New Year be prosperous, your health strong and stable, your families happy & together. I will continue to post throughout the New Year. Hope you read it and chime in. It is nice to hear from you and to share this journey of preserving and displaying family histories in your own Family Museum.

 

Christmas Memories . . . The Gifts

Giving and receiving gifts on Christmas is probably the most exciting part of the holiday. For weeks, even months, you plan, you shop in the stores or online, and best of all is when you make the gift yourself, much time and effort is spent on this endeavor.

At the beginning of our shopping excursions, we all make a list of the things we want and/or need. Over the years, especially this one, the lists have become quite sophisticated. Now, instead of just listing the item, websites of where to find it accompany the request. That certainly did make shopping easier.

Then we check out the wrapping paper and bows, and as before, need to restock. I am not sure when it started, except how I recall my dad, a conservative guy, would take the discarded gift wrapping paper and fold it up very neatly saying that it is still good and we should use it next Christmas. Really dad! But he was right, so from that day forward, I have done the same, resulting in some very old, even retro-looking paper. And today, not only is the paper saved, we do so with the ribbon and bows. One of the things I love to do while the family opens their presents, is to roll up the discarded ribbon into neat little rolls, securing them as best as I can. Again, some of our ribbon has been used over and over again. Besides, paper and ribbon is expensive and if you can save a little money, then do so. Then you can spend that money on the gifts you want to give. Oh! And don’t forget to give a gift to your pet/s. Every day they bring you happiness, so let them know that they are an important member of the family.

Then, in a flash, it’s over.  The anticipation, the angst, the thrills and shrills.  But it is all worth it and in a quick eleven months from now, you will be doing it again. And why do we do this? Because we all want to show our love and appreciation for family and friends because that is what Christmas is all about. If everyone could keep this loving feeling in their hearts all year, every day, we would be a peaceful nation.

 

Merry Christmas to you all   

and    God Bless America!