A Coastal Grandmother Christmas

My cozy condo ready for Christmas

I love Christmas! Every year when I start getting my decorations out, I think to myself, will I be able to get this tree up by myself next year? I have to remind myself of Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. I have to stop and be grateful that I can get the tree up by myself this year! I have to realize that God has always provided what I need when I need it and to just enjoy what today brings!

Most all of my decorations are very old, and I love the memories behind each one. Some of my tree ornaments are 50 years old. The nativity scene on the hearth of my fireplace is at least 40 years old. I love unwrapping it each year and putting it out again. With all the hustle and hubbub, I want to remember “the reason for the season”.

A Special Christmas Memory

When my son was about four years old, we lived in an apartment in Rockville, Maryland. I was a single mom, working a secretarial job, and living paycheck to paycheck. Christmas was coming up, and I took my son to the grocery store with me. When we came out, he asked if we could just look in a small gift shop in the same shopping center. I told him we could “just look”, but we would not be able to buy anything. As we were leaving the store, he saw these little glass men tree ornaments. He said, “mommy, can we just buy one?”. My son was such a good little boy, and he never asked for anything. I can remember debating to myself if I could afford to buy them. They were 50 cents each! I bought him all four. He could not wait until we got home to hang them on the small tree in our apartment. As a grown man, his favorite part of Christmas each year has been to hang those little glass men on his own tree.

I don’t have any special parties to dress up for this Christmas, and that is okay. Our Christmas will be more “low key” this year with the recent loss of my daughter-in-law. It will still be joyful and special. I was so encouraged that my son asked me to come to the beach house and put the tree up. He is staying there temporarily , and I was glad he still wanted to celebrate Christmas. He will be with us Christmas Eve and then leave for Tennessee to visit his own son and family. They have three young children, and I think it will be special for him to be around his grandchildren.

Talia, Anya and Luka

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a very merry and blessed Christmas. I so appreciate your following my blog this year, and I sincerely hope that it has held something meaningful for you. Even though I get fewer cards each year (a lot of my friends put their greetings on Facebook), I buy fewer gifts (I give money cards), I still find that what means the most is celebrating the true meaning of Christmas with the ones you love. It doesn’t really matter what your traditions are. You may be adding new ones, or celebrating old ones, it just matters that the true spirit of Christmas lives in your heart.