Wednesday, November 30th
404 was the bib number Kevin wore in his last race. Now, every time I spot a "404" in whatever context, it's a Kevin sign. Wednesday morning, I was picking up an order (for Christmas stuff) at Target, and the bus that pulled up for its timing stop wore its 404 proudly!
Wednesday continued cold, and on our regular Wednesday afternoon walk, Ace and I covered a mile, taking a slightly different route, or rather different direction of a similar route. We did this to deliberately change the order of when we were walking uphill. We are working at figuring out symptoms for exercise fatigue.
By the time we got home, my own symptoms of Reynaud's syndrome showed up. The early ones, that is. My fingers were freezing. A while with a couple of warm kitties and the cracked corn bag heated up by the microwave and they warmed up fine. But it's a reminder that Winter weather has arrived for sure.
Thursday December 1
A fresh new month, full of the hopes and expectations of the Winter Holidays. Which holidays depends on your own faith tradition, of course. My own is Christmas, and Boxing Day, leading up to New Year's Eve. But I am part of a family that has Hannukah in the mix. And I have a grocery checkout lady who wears her hijab, and celebrates Ramadan. Aware that we don't all celebrate the same, I do try to be conscious even while fully indulging my own advent season and savoring these traditions.
The Ace noticed the tree when she came to walk, and took photos to share with her daughter. Her daughter had given me several of the ornaments that grace my tree. Others have been around for much longer.
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| Bad angle on Pegasus... a winged papier maché ornament that Ace brought back to me from a trip to Mexico she took in 9th grade Summer |
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| Shaquille O'Neal, dunking in his Magic uniform. Bought for my son, the same year we got me Larry Bird. |
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| Pinocchio I brought back from a work trip to Italy |
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| Woodstock, the first ornament I bought for my first Apartment tree when I was 20. |
Everyone has memories wrapped up in their objects. I don't think anything matches how much our annual decorations tie together our personal lifelines. Except maybe for what Jeanne has written about in her blog this morning: cookie cutters!
Life is good! Spark on.
Saw a movie once where Christmas ornaments were referred to as “memories on branches.” I love that and say it to my grandchildren. Love your ornaments!
ReplyDeleteThank you. That's exactly what they are!
DeleteAwwww, looks like Rubia is doing well w/hair regrowth!
ReplyDeleteSo neat to see signs from Kevin. My sign from my brother is coins. Pennies, specifically. Strangely (or not!) they generally are dated w/significant years in his life . . . . birth year, high school graduation year, year of his passing. So I KNOW they’re from him! And he collected pennies. It’s comforting!
Isn’t it wonderful to have ornaments that are wrapped in precious memories! Lovely.
HUGS
Barb
1crazydog
Love the pennies you get from heaven! And yes, it's wonderful to have those physical links to memories.
DeleteBack in the day, did you ever watched the Carol Duvall Show on HGTV? Somewhere around 1994 or 1995, she had a show on putting photos inside clear ornaments. I printed mine on transparency film, wrote the year on the outside of the globe in glitter glue, and made one of all the grands that year. This has continued for every year since then. IMHO, all ornaments are special and have a special story to tell.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the shout out!
Happy Thursday!!
Never did get much into HGTV. I agree about the specialness of ornaments. I kept some my great-grandmother made in the nursing home until they fell apart.
DeleteI love “signs” and it is really special that the bus 404 was at Target when you were!!
ReplyDeleteWe have many dated ornaments, some dating back to the 70’s and given to us by my Mom and DH’s Mom… all are special and it’s nice to spend time with them each December. Eissa7
Memories and tradition... what the holidays are all about!
DeleteThat definitely was a sign from Kevin. It's always those little sign that can warm your heart for that moment. I love when those signs come from your loved one. Sometimes it's at the right moment when you need it.
ReplyDeleteLove the ornaments that have those special meanings.
Woo-hoo! Restored to its proper place! Thanks to Jeanne!
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