Traditions

As Kiira and I decorated our Christmas tree this year, I couldn't help but feel younger than my age while unwrapping all the precious ornaments and decorations. Many I have had since I was a kid. And many have been made by either my grandmother or my mother. How special it is to have these to hand down. As I looked at two ornaments in particular, it brought me back to a time when I had braids, was horse crazy, and the most important things in my life were my next sleepover, raucous family gatherings, and getting to the barn.

In those days, I spent my days braiding yarn for my Breyer horse's bridles and making blankets to keep them warm. I wrote notes to friends with a real pencil and real paper. I still have the return notes to hold, to look at the handwriting, unique to each friend. The phone was my link to the friends I saw only riding (we all went to different schools), and we abused the privileges back then as those our age do now. The only difference now is there is no phone cord to snake from room to room - to lose in one of the bedrooms - to trip over as you rush to the phone. No coiled link from base to handset, to tangle in infinite loops that made you stand on your tip toes on top of your bed hanging the phone below, spinning....spinning...spinning - until once again the cord was semi straight and you could see each of the hundreds of circles that made up the coiled cord.

My mom, being ever so crafty, made the "If Only" ornament when we rode at If Only Farm in 1985. My friend Ann Udall, whom I have not seen since I was a teenager, made the other ornament for me in 1982. GlanNant Secret was one of the first ponies I rode and I loved her dearly. Ann knew this. And now I have this to remember that idyllic time of my life. And I do, every year when I pull this ornament out.