Can We Talk 2

Putting Christmas Things Away

         Every trace of Christmas is erased from our home. It's like it never happened.

         I didn't want to put it away. Most years I feel like I can't relax and enjoy Christmas until the day is over. Then I want to savor the music over hot tea and look at the decorations in my house. This year, it actually started on Christmas Day.I refused to let other people stress me out. I didn't worry about how the table was set, or having the perfect menu, so I enjoyed it more. My dad complained three days after, remembering some food items he had bought for the day that weren't prepared. I told him we didn't miss them. There were leftovers as it was, and some people took things home with them.

         We don't have a live tree any longer, so there is no rush to take it down. I know two homes where the tree is big and elaborate and stays up all year. But my dad had to have everything down. I couldn't stand listening to him any longer, so I took the afternoon to pack it all up. He was breaking ornaments and jumbling things together. I'm fussy about how they get packed away. I inherited that from my mother, but I'm looser than she was. Still I put things back in boxes they didn't belong in, and settled for mismatching some things, just to get it out of his sight in a hurry. He took the tree apart, packed it, and put it in the garage. I did the rest.

         We store the rest in the attic. We have a drop down stair system. I have to stand on the step stool to reach the handle, then pull down and step back to assemble the stairs. I carried the boxes up the stairs one at a time to fit through the rectangle in the hall ceiling. I only fell backwards with a heavy box once. At least I was near the bottom, and the hall wall caught me. I considered it my exercise. There were many boxes to carry up. I had to arrange the attic while on my knees so that the air flow wouldn't be hampered this summer.

         It made me a little sad to put it all away for yet another year. All the memories that came with those ornaments are put away. My late brother and mother both loved Christmas, and so many of my Christmas memories are entwined with memories of them. I didn't get everything out this year because of visiting children. Next year we will have two one year olds added to the group, so I may get out even less. But for now, Christmas 2015 is already a brief memory.