That was fun

Vintage Christmas Monday was so much fun. I loved visiting everyone's posts and feel very honored to have received some nice comments on my post. I enjoyed each one. It made coming back to work on a Monday after a holiday just a little nicer. So again thank you to our host Joan at Anything Goes Here for making it possible for strangers to meet and greet and perhaps become friends. Sometimes it only takes a comment, a kind word, act or deed from a stranger to make a day a little better ....... a little brighter. So thank you all for visiting.

A few years ago, I just didn't feel in the mood for Christmas. I have a big home and always loved decorating it ..... to an extreme as my family would say. I had 12 full size trees throughout the house, each with a different theme along with the main family tree. The local paper had even done a full page article the previous year on my home, trees and the yearly open house party that we hosted for up to 100 people. But that year, things were different. My daughter was away for her first year of college, dear friends had suffered sickness and tragedies and my business was in a slump so money was tight. I had set up only a few trees (5) and was planning on just a smaller scaled party for just the closest of friends and family. The last tree decorated was the family tree. It stands 9 feet high and easily has over 500 ornaments. Along with the green face Santa and the gold spray painted macaroni wreathes that my daughter made were the collection of beautiful ornaments from Germany that had been passed down in Dad's family for generations. I must add that this was also the first Christmas for our new kitten.

I came home from work one afternoon and found my 9 foot tree TOPPLED! It was precariously perched on the fireplace screen. Fortunately, the tree came down at an angle and was saved from completely smashing to the floor by the wrought iron screen. I was in tears. Precious ornaments were lost but thankfully not as many as there could have been. I began the task of undecorating the tree so that we could carefully right it back into position .... this time tethered in place by strong wire. The kitten was conveniently in hiding. My daughter had called home that night to say hi and was told by her father about the tree mishap. First she protested that one little cute kitten could not have toppled a tree. (That would be a later discussion.) What happened next I call the "Miracle of Strangers Christmas".

My daughter hosts an online writing group comprised of hundreds of writers from around the world. To this site she posted a request. She told her friends how important these lost ornaments were to her mother, not for any monetary value but rather the memories they represented. She asked for them to drop me a line to say hello and Merry Christmas, unbeknown to me, giving them my e-mail address. The next day when I opened my e-mail, there were hundreds of well wishes. There were cartoons, oh so cute pictures of snuggling kittens, puppies and even hamsters, poems and just simple statements of good tidings. They came from all over .... Japan, England, Australia and all over the states, to name a few. I didn't understand why I was receiving them until I read one that said "Your daughter explained what happened. I thought that this was so nice of her to do for her mother. She is a good person and a good daughter so you must be a good mom. Merry Christmas to Elizabeth's Mom." I was in tears again, tears of joy. I printed a dozen of these Christmas wishes and made them into ornaments . Years later, they still make me teary-eyed when I place them on the tree.

As Linus could have said to Charlie Brown ..... "Taking time to share a simple thought or kind word, that is the true meaning of the season." Again thank you all for stopping by to visit and share your thoughts. Thank you for allowing me to share. I look forward to next week.

Merry Christmas
Sherrie

The Tree: