I cannot imagine Christmas without a Christmas Tree to decorate and enjoy. So many ornaments carry memories.

During our 2 years in Beijing, China as ‘Foreign Experts’ we learned about some  of the historic stories and tales. Monkey King is the main character in the book Journey to the West. This is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty. It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. We met another Foreign Expert family with a 6 year old son who was entranced with the story and could recite whole portions of Monkey King’s adventures.

We have collected ornaments over the years. Many of them have a story or memory. My brothers and I discovered he red, white and blue ball in a box of old ornaments in my mother’s house after she died. We were all surprised at the old ornaments she had kept – they we had no memory of. We think  this ball dates back to the WWII.  The Heart and Hand ornament is a favorite of mine and is a Shaker symbol of Hands to work and Hearts to God. I also have a who flock of birds of all sizes and materials.  Birds belong in trees!

We can no longer use all our boxes if ornaments, but we still enjoy thinking of their histories.

We wish everyone a happy holiday season – and joy in 2020