Her mom died that year. Christmas was always over the top for her mom, it was her favorite time of year and she loved, loved, loved to decorate. Her mom had several key pieces that she put out every year, so when her mom died there were five specific pieces that all the girls wanted. Since there were five girls it worked out well for each girl to get one piece, but it wasn’t quite that easy.
The plan was for everyone to put their name in a hat for each piece they wanted, if your name was drawn that was your decoration. It started out fine until one of the sisters had her name drawn for two different pieces. Since they hadn’t talked about it and just assumed everyone would walk away with one ornament it was a bit of a surprise, but not a total surprise, that she refused to give up either piece and instead allowed one sister to walk away with nothing.
These pieces had been in the family for years and they were the one significant thing that reminded the girls of their mother and allowed her to share the holiday with them every year.
Now the first ornament on her tree each year is the breast cancer heart in memory of her mom, then her mother’s Christmas decoration which she just so happened to purchase while she was visiting her in Colorado and finally her grandmother’s Santa Claus. Even though her mother and grandmother have long since passed, they are still apart of her Christmas every year.
If These Walls 