Every year my mom and I would spend so much time decorating and cooking. I swear it took us days. We'd hang all kinds of ornaments, some we bought, some we made, and every year we'd buy a new ornament to place on the tree for the new year. My mom has been gone for over 10 years now, but I still do this. Every year, I find a new ornament just like we used to, and I add it to the tree.
It used to be birds when I was younger, though I don't exactly recall why she chose those. Maybe she just thought they looked pretty perched on the branches, but in recent years they've been hard to come by. So, instead I typically buy some type of pop culture, movie, or game related ornament.
Last year it was the abominable Snowman from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I've also got an Alien Queen, a Zelda ornament, Jack Skellington, a Ninja Turtle, and others as well. I haven't bought one for this year yet, but after writing this I think maybe it should be a picture frame with her picture in it as it seems very fitting now, and I'm surprised I've not yet done it already.
You would think that Christmas would make me sad since she's gone, but it actually makes me happy. I pull the tree from the attic, I string the beads around the branches, I carefully place each ornament on the tree in its perfect spot, and I smile when I think about how we used to do it together. Sometimes simple things can make you happy.
