Old Ornament, New Ornament that Shines

Feeling especially sentimental about the holidays this year…

and a little boy is the most important reason why:

Our grand toddler broke an ornament on our Christmas tree during a recent visit, but since it was plastic and not glass, I wasn’t concerned for his safety. We placed only (theoretical) unbreakables on the bottom half of the tree, with him in mind. Paper, cardboard, plastic.

Turned out the broken item was the first Christmas ornament I gave my husband when we were dating–almost 30 years ago. Grand toddler has good taste–I understand why he liked that particular ornament. It was a molded vehicle with big, cool looking wheels. Clearly, he wanted to play with it. But the ornament was old, and more fragile than I’d thought, and collapsed in his tiny hands.

My husband and I looked down at the ornament we’d hung for three decades, carefully wrapped each year in its box to save for the next. “Should I try to glue it back together?” I asked. Without missing a beat, we looked at one another and shook our heads. The ornament symbolized the beginning of our relationship, but our first grandchild marks the beginning of a new and wonderful chapter in our lives. We are sentimental about our past, but excited about our future, and the future of our growing family. The ornament we rehung with special pride this year, and will display for years to come, says, “Grandson’s First Christmas.”