Family memories are not just for photo albums & scrapbooks

We have a family tradition that I love – Christmas stockings! I grew up in a home that loved Christmas stockings. When we were “grown”, my mother told us that she was going to discontinue the Christmas stocking tradition. My (Jewish) sister-in-law was aghast. She had just gotten used to having a stocking and she was not to be denied that joy! So, Mom continued with the stockings.

When my husband & I got married, I made stockings for our “family”. However, I wasn’t thinking of the future, and I made them really big! I decorated them every year with something that represented what went on in our lives that year. A trip, a baby, a new home. When the babies came, they each got their own (really big) stocking. They are often too big to hang when they are full! Theirs also got decorated; with rattles, and reminders of family trips, and with graduation caps and engagement rings. Then the husbands joined our family and they also got stockings. Theirs are sparser, because they haven’t been around as long, but they are starting to fill up! (Edit: now we have three more stockings - for our grandchildren!)

We’re going on a family trip to Spain this summer, and you can guess what will be going on the stockings that will be hung on the mantel with care – you guessed it – a memento of our trip to Spain!

Memories are important; keep them in many ways! In my next post, I’ll show some other ways our family has saved our precious memories.

Until next time,