Decorating Christmas trees takes on many different styles.  If you have ever gone to a place where you can view several decorated trees, you know the possibilities are limitless.  There are Victorian decorations, playful ornaments that remind us of Christmases when we were children, trees decorated with gold and silver or other color schemes, ornaments revolving around a particular theme or hobby or career.  My sister is an avid collector of CoCa Cola memorbilia and so, of course, one of the trees in her home is decorated with several Coke ornaments along with others that are red and white. 

For me, the best ornaments for the tree in our home, are the ornaments we have accumulated over time from special people in our lives and also as momentos from vacation places.  From the time when our children were very young, their Grandparents, Aunts, and family friends, every Christmas, gave each of them a special ornament.  By the time they were young  adults, they had their own "starter" collection of ornaments to decorate their trees after they were on their own.

Each year, as I unpack our ornaments and begin decorating our pre-lit (awesome invention!) artificial tree, memories of people and events come flooding back. There's the miniature nest with two little birds which was given to me 37 years ago by the preschoolers in the first preschool Sunday School class at my church.  A few years later, another child in the preschool Sunday School class gave me an ornament he made with his Mom's help.  That child is now a doctor. 

I have several other handmade ornaments from friends who cross stitch and sew and even shells from the beach, turned into ornaments.  There are knitted bells made by my Grandmother.  I have crocheted snowflakes made by my husband's grandmother.  Some are ceramic and hand painted with love.  A few are made from wooden clothespins!

Being a teacher of the primary grades for so many years, I have many "teacher ornaments".  Some of them say "#1 Teacher".  These ornaments make me think of love notes written to me by many of my students, often saying "You are the best first grade teacher I ever had!"  I never had the heart to say , "I'm the only first grade teacher you've ever had!"   It was pleasant, basking in their accolades!  The NYC taxi cab ornament was given to me by a first grader named Ellie.  Ellie had a hard time remembering how to read the word "cab".  I knew she had been to New York City so I used this background experience to help her remember this word.  It worked!  Imagine my delight, the day of our Christmas Party at school, when Ellie, with a sparkle in her eyes and a big smile on her face, gave me the tiny little Christmas NYC taxi cab ornament!  I smile every time I hang it on our tree, thinking back to that day of Ellie's ah ha moment and how her confidence in reading grew.  Being an elementary teacher in a small town meant that I often had all the children from a family and consequently I have ornaments from each of the kids in those families.

My husband thinks I have way too many ornaments, but if there is room for one or two ornaments per branch, then that's the way our tree is decorated!  LOADED!  I love remembering colleagues I worked with, as I place their ornaments on our tree.  Sadly, though, some ornaments remind me of a dear friend or relative who has died... but thankful to have had them in my life for as long as I did.  I love the many angel ornaments, storybook characters, The Cat in the Hat and Madeline, teddy bears, toy soldiers, tea cups, snowmen, icicles, bells, and Gingerbread boys.   

Some ornaments commemorate a special event or place: Pope John XXIII; the Statue of Liberty; Hershey, PA; photo ornaments of our children when they were young; a Maine lighthouse; a lighthouse from North Carolina; Canadian moose; dream catcher from St. Joseph's Indian School in South Dakota.

While I think it would sometimes be fun to do a themed Christmas tree, it would have to be in addition to THE TREE with ornaments signifying all my precious memeories.  Looking at our unique collection on our tree is like seeing lovely pieces of our family's history!