The holidays are meant to be merry…maybe even light. Sometimes, it feels like a lot of pressure to be merry and light…to make the season merry and light for others. And right at the moment when I ask myself why do I even try…I open my computer and find an assignment that Wren has been working on. Reading her words lets me know that maybe it does matter. Here are Wren’s words, an essay about her favorite family tradition. The amount of time my children are spending on holiday related “work” at school this year is a question for later…
My family and I have a lot of Christmas traditions, but the one that I love the most has got to be our Christmas tree. Every single year me and my family decorate our Christmas tree together, and we always have the BEST TIME EVER!!!
After my parents make the decision of which tree we get, the kids are in charge of decorating it, kind of.
Mom and dad put up lights on the tree as me and my sisters rock out to our Christmas playlist, ho ho hoing, and jingle belling, happy as can be. Or so we think. Our minds change as we enter the living room that holds the great tree.
Into the box we go, grabbing the first ornaments that we find, and finding a branch to hold them. Mom occasionally moves the ones we hang, and dad simply watches us.
“Each ornament has a story” Mom tells us every year. “ This one is from my nanny. “ She continues. Each ornament is special to one of the members in our family.
“ This one has a picture of your great aunt.” Dad tells us from the couch. Every year we learn a little more about the ornaments that we hang on the tree each year.
“ My pre-K teacher gave me this one. “ Adi says, as all of the memories rush into our heads, remembering why each ornament is on the tree.
When I was younger, I didn’t understand why my family decorated our tree each year. I now understand that it’s not just to make it beautiful, ( It always is though,) but it’s to make memories and to remember the old old memories.
So in conclusion, my favorite holiday tradition is decorating my Christmas tree with my family, and I’m 100% sure that it’ll still be my favorite family tradition when I’m an adult. Because nothing tops spending time with your family.
Where There's Joy 
She (with your influence) certainly understands the “true” meaning of Christmas.
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Beautiful and beautifully said. I love the dialogue and the “ho ho hoing and jingle belling.” Wren has a way with words…and a big heart.
P.S. I meant to tell you that we have a new Wren in our family now, too.
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Oh! Another Wren. You’ll have to tell me more.
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Please thank Wren for sharing her essay!! This paragraph brought tears to my eyes: When I was younger, I didn’t understand why my family decorated our tree each year. I now understand that it’s not just to make it beautiful, ( It always is though,) but it’s to make memories and to remember the old old memories.
This year with my kids all grown and living aboard, we decided NOT to get a tree. It is expensive, we said. It is a lot of work to do for just the 2 of us, we said. We bought 6 poinsetti plants instead to have red decorations in the house.
But reading Wren’s words remind me how the tree is so much more. I know you will be enjoying it more this year because of her essay.
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I’m going to share this with Wren! Thank you! ❤️
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So much joy in this post, both in the writing and the photographs. I love how Wren captures both the moment in time and the traditions that are behind the moment.
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Gorgeous tree and gorgeous writing! I loved this part of Wren’s piece, “When I was younger, I didn’t understand why my family decorated our tree each year. I now understand that it’s not just to make it beautiful, ( It always is though,) but it’s to make memories and to remember the old old memories.”
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Fabulous as all others have commented! Your lead into her slice sets us up to remember, with Wren, that family and memories are where it’s all at!
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WOW! What a great essay. Think Wren could come help my 9th graders with their writing? Her details, her sentence structure (just look at this one, “Into the box we go, grabbing the first ornaments that we find, and finding a branch to hold them.”), the way she imparts information through dialogue… even just the fun she has in telling this… it all works. I love the way she describes the tradition. What a wonderful writer she has become!
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