My Favorite Christmas

On that Christmas in 1980, we discovered a boxful of old Christmas cards we'd received in years gone by. It was fun re-reading the notes from family and friends, and made us feel closer to home.

We decided to choose a few cards with especially pretty covers to brighten our tree. I cut the front off the cards and punched holes close to the edges all around. I had a vague idea of what I'd like to make, but didn't have step-by-step directions. So I purely guessed and liked the results.

Using the only yarn I had on hand (brown), I crocheted a simple chain stitch as a border. My kids thought Mama had done something miraculous, turning old cards into ornaments. I just smiled and said, "See what can happen when you try?"

We still use a few of those long-ago ornaments on our Christmas tree every year. Here's one of them.

That Christmas was one of the most beautiful mornings ever. We awoke to snow-covered hillsides, and snow continued to fall throughout the day. After opening our presents, we bundled up and took a walk through the woods. A popular walking trail looped around and ended up at the top of a hill overlooking our community.

We gasped from the sheer beauty of it all. The scene before us resembled a Currier & Ives Christmas card! Parents and children were laughing and tobogganing down slippery slopes. Dogs were prancing around, having the time of their life in all that White Stuff. We stopped to chat with people along the way, and as anyone knows--there are no strangers when it snows.

Our Christmas far from home turned into our most memorable Christmas. Each year, we find ourselves taking that familiar walk down Memory Lane, back to the special year when we had so little in the way of money, but were so richly blessed.