How We Remember the People We’ve Lost Each Christmas

We don’t have an Elf on the Shelf.

We rarely do pics with Santa.

We don’t host a holiday party or a cookie exchange.

We don’t wear matching family pajamas.

We don’t create an elaborate outdoor lights display.

We don’t do anything flashy or fancy at Christmas.

But we do remember the people we’ve lost.

How We Remember the People We’ve Lost Each Christmas

We hang my mom’s stocking.

We decorate my grandma’s tree.

I fill my grandmother’s white tinsel Christmas tree from the 1950s with new and antique glass ornaments.

I decorate the tree that was there for my very first Christmas and is here for my 40th Christmas.

It was the most important possession for me to keep from my grandma’s house before we sold it.

Some of the glass ornaments are reproductions that I bought. Some my mother bought. Some are 100 years old.

A few my grandma tagged with her maiden name, “Grubbs’ tree 1920s.”

She was a teacher and loved to leave me notes on everything.

Now, pieces of my mom and grandma’s childhood Christmases are part of my children’s childhood Christmases.

We don’t do anything flashy or fancy at Christmas.

But we do remember the people we’ve lost.

A version of this post was originally published December 10, 2023.