Sydney and I collect Madam Alexander Dolls; I knew this Naivety would be passed through generations.

The very first Christmas DF and I celebrated together while trimming the tree I had an asthma attack (a 911 asthmas attack). After a long four hour visit to the the ER it was diagnosed between my allergies for pine and cats (which we had a kitten) my lungs felt they needed to give a awake up call. The ER doctor explained I could keep the kitten, if we took the fresh pine tree down, but it was unadvisable to have both. I was so disappointed; DF went straight to “St Nicks” and purchased a tree that was perfect for us with a few new ornaments .

Every year I add a new ornament, some of the ornaments are 25 years old.

In 2007 we purchased a new home; I was shopping at St. Nicks and saw a beautifully decorated and color coordinated christmas tree (the tree color happened to match the colors of my family room). Even the bow that adorned the top of the tree matched perfectly. I asked the sales person to hold the decorated tree, I wanted DF and Sydney to see the tree that would reside in our family room. Sydney thought the tree was exquisite and DF was less than enthusiastic, but agreed to the new Christmas Tree.

The tree is elegant

It wasn’t until we trimmed the elegant tree with the matching ornaments did Sydney ask how were we going to fit the family ornaments? I felt like I had been punched in the stomach, I realized it didn’t matter how divine my new tree looked: the holidays are about tradition and ornaments created by a three year old out of pretzels. That year we started a new tradition and trimmed both trees.

We tend to decorate every inch of our home at Christmas time

When all my nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends join us for Christmas celebrations we all end up by the traditional multi-colored lit tree. I learned an important lesson that year aesthetics are nice, but nothing can replace the love and years that unity and tradition bind us as a unit: A FAMILY.