Christmas is coming. The kids are grown and moved to the other side of the country. We're older now and decorating is more a chore than fun anymore. But I remember when Mom was getting older (Pop was gone) and she didn't feel like pulling a tree from the basement so she decorated a big plant instead. She made it look so pretty with little red bows on the limbs. We took a cutting from that plant, it's a variegated thing that will take over the house if you don't cut it back. We call it the "mom plant" for lack of the correct name. One of these days I have to use my plant identifier app and see what's what. When my son and his family lived in town and my eldest grandson was nine or ten, he and I put up Mom's Christmas tree and decorated it for her. She played Christmas records and gave us cookies from the store, by then she wasn't baking as much. We had great fun, he decorated the bottom and I decorated the top. We both filled in the middle and loved the homemade ornaments that my husband had made when he was small. There were ornaments that my son had made as well. The memories warmed the heart, and mom gave us several of those ornaments when she quit putting up a tree. That little guy is thirty now, if I am doing the math right. He and his wife have a lovely fur baby ( a dog for those who don't use the term with affection). I haven't seen their apartment for a couple of years, and never at the holidays so I don't know if he decorates a lot. I imagine a tree that he and his wife decorate with ornaments they've obtained since they've been together. I've sent them new ones over the years so I hope they were the start of new memories for his family. I do remember a photo of their tiny first tree with affection. I've seen photographs of the trees that my son and his wife have put up over the years. Ginormous comes to mind. I even recall one whose top bent over because the ceiling was lower than they thought. The trees are always beautiful, with ornaments that they've accumulated over the years. Some the boys made them while in school, some I donated to their first tree (ones that meant something to my son), and ones I've sent them since, too. It's my hope that they make lovely memories. When my son was little we made home made ornaments with flour and I don't recall what else, baking them until they were hard. We applied paint when they cooled and they were enjoyed for years. Eventually they cracked and the hooks came out, but they lasted a good long time. I made felt ornaments one year and some of them would still be on my tree, if I had one. I am quite proud of the felt Santa, with his pink cheeks (courtesy of felt a red felt pen). He's still in the ornament box in the basement. My son learned to make god's eyes in art class, I believe during grade school or junior high, and several of differing sizes were always present. This year I bought a gorgeous stained glass ornament from a cousin who made it. A iridescent white tree with colorful glass beads that catch the light. It hangs in the front window with a few others I picked to keep it company. We have a small tree on the mantle with green foil paper for limbs and glass balls. It is rather cute, if I do say so myself. And it's high enough off of the ground our puppy can't dismantle it. His unending curiosity and destructive nature is the main reason we didn't put up a large tree. I didn't want to be yelling at him for the next month for attacking it and removing the ornaments to chew. Mom is in an assisted living facility now and has her own tiny tree in her room. In the atrium they have a humongous tree with colorful twinkle lights. The chairs around it are usually occupied and the residents chat and enjoy the lovely decorations. I think I could go on and on here, but it's time to do something else (like edit my latest book). Happy Holidays to you all. Stay safe and healthy, and if you travel, "God speed."