Monday, December 8, 2008

A Raggedy Christmas

Christmas memories. What a neat topic. I have a whole head full of memories of this holiday, some good, some not as wonderful. But of the best memories, one set of ornaments triggers a special set of memories for the Toussaint clan.

As a new family, we had few Christmas ornaments. For many years I decorated our tree with red bows and dried Queen Anne's lace, along with a small assortment of ornaments. Our ornament collection grew as the kids went through school. And one random purchase ended up being the most meaningful of all.

At a seaside Christmas shop one summer I was quite taken by the handpainted wooden ornaments. And I couldn't take my eyes off of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. On a whim, I purchased the pair and added them to our holiday collection. Each year, the kids would search the tree for these two ornaments; sometimes they'd each want to hang one or the other.

You and I know Raggedy Ann and Andy aren't part of the overarching Christmas story, but they became an important part of our family ritual. Everything was okay if they were on the tree.

When we packed up to move into a smaller house a few years back, I culled out some of the kid's favorite ornaments and gave them to them. However, neither kid would take Raggedy Ann or Andy. Both girls said: We want them to stay together, with you.

So each year, they go up on my tree. And each year, the "kids" still search for them on the tree.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Maggie
www.maggietoussaint.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheBookSpa/

1 comment:

J L said...

I lurv this story -- isn't it funny how certain ornaments, etc., catch our eye and just demand to be bought?