Star Light Star Bright

 

Annie's Story

Just before Christmas , one of my Facebook friends dog, Annie was ill 
and everyone was praying for her to get well.

One morning I got up and my friends profile picture had been changed to her
Annie's picture and I knew right away Annie had passed. I cried and then had to
go about my duties

I was out most of the day doing errands and picking my Granddaughter, Katy up
after school, then we went home and she was playing.  After awhile I booted
up again and went to Facebook and was reading the comments about Annie's passing
and I put my head down on my desk and had some tears, then I felt a soft touch
on my arm, I looked up and it was little Katy, she looked at me and quietly
asked what was wrong so I showed her the picture of Annie and told her that she
had died. She gave me some hugs and words of love to cheer me up, it always
helps, then she went back to whatever she was playing. You never really know
what little kids are thinking.

Soon it was time for Katy to go home, my daughter picks her up after her work
around 6, and I walk her out and get her settled in the car.  This night
she grabbed my hand and walked around the corner of the house and said

 " Grandma look up at the Old Grandpa star," when her Great Grandpa died 2
years ago we told her that he went to a star and we showed her the brightest one
and every once in awhile we look at it.  She continued on, " Grandma do you
see the little star next to old Grandpa , that's Annie and Grandpa will take
good care of her, he loved dogs so don't worry she's going to be just fine. "

So if you look to the sky and find the brightest star and the little one
right next to it, you will know Annie and Old Grandpa will be just fine !

Children and animals just make you feel good, even when you don't !

An Antique Christmas Tree

My Christmas tree has always had great importance in my life., even when I
was a little girl, it had to be tall, and it had to be real !

In my adult years I have always preferred a white pine, not always so easy to
find.  This year the stand we always go to had one white pine,

would it be tall enough, full enough, why yes it was perfect. Stands about 10
foot tall, perfect shape and oh it just smells so good , passes the " Katie "
test.

Now its up has it's lights and the decorating can begin.

Time to start unwrapping all the special ornaments that have been collected
throughout my life.,

most of them antiques and when I tell you I have collected a lot of ornaments
through the years, I am not fooling. Not expensive or out of the ordinary, but
all special and almost everyone has a story. My daughter, who is now in her
40's, laughs as I drag out the ornaments that she made as a child in school, my
favorite being the one she made from a lifesaver package and red yarn, and the
unfired angel, bell and Christmas tree and teddy bear , she made in school and never got to paint so they
got fired white, she was out of school because she had the mumps !

The engraved silver bell my husband and I bought at at Tilden and Thurber the
first year we got together , some 30 odd years ago, really old glass balls that
were on my tree when I was a little girl., some that survived from my parents
childhood and others that have been given to me as gifts through the years , and
then there our the ones I made  sitting in the dinette in my old house in
Rhode Island with my Mom and our loved neighbor, Mary Martin.  I can still
remember sitting at that table with them, like it was yesterday, making all
kinds of Christmas crafts and little things that still hang on my tree today !
Those are the memories that make me smile, and every year as I unwrap all my
beloved treasures, I smile and it brings me right back to when I was a little
girl . Some day these will be all passed on , but the memories are really what
makes my Christmas tree every year, so I will be very careful to pass these
memories along so they will remain special for awhile longer, maybe one more
generation.

 Enjoy your time now for these are the memories you make !

MERRY CHRISTMAS