December 20, 2013

Christmas Memories

Sled mishap, homemade ornaments leave lasting impression on writer

By Ann Wathen (Special to The Criterion)

Before World War II, glass ornaments were imported from Czechoslovakia. My parents bought a few each year. They were just plain balls of various colors but different sizes. Each year, after the holidays, the ornaments were carefully wrapped in tissue paper and stored.

Then came the year we got the sled. On Christmas morning, it was under the tree. Since there was no snow on Christmas that year, the sled just stayed there. I think I was 7 or 8 and had not yet learned laws of action and reaction. I put a heavy toy on the sled, the back end went up, and the tree went over, hitting the dining room table.

All the glass ornaments were smashed. My parents were upset, but I wasn’t punished. After all, I hadn’t put the sled there, and no one had told me not to add weight to one end.

For several years, we had to make ornaments. We were at war, and no ornaments were imported. However, we had an inventive mother. Milk was delivered in glass bottles, capped with a heavy foil. We saved those caps throughout the year and invented many ways of cutting and bending them into pretty, shiny ornaments.

When we could, at last, buy ornaments, our homemade ones were trashed. I still miss them.
 

(Ann Wathen is a member of Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood.) †

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