From Louis

………………..Jac and I have been collecting Christmas ornaments for as long as we have owned a house to put one up in. We didn’t have a tree when we lived in an apartment….there was just no room to store anything…..So when we moved to Ct. some 30 plus years ago we started collecting ornaments……Where ever we traveled we would scout out stores around the country and the world that specialized in Christmas decorations. Sometimes we would find them in the strangest stores or flea markets. The ones in Europe were always the most fun…. I’ve never counted, but I’d guess we collected over 200 ornaments……probably more. I can recall almost with each ornament where and when we purchased it….it’s become a brain test….LOL…..Jac and I always would decorate the tree and I would get on a ladder and start at the top and work our way down. We made sure to show each other each ornament as we took them from their boxes before putting them on the tree…..We wanted to make sure we saw and talked about each one……Our old friends were coming out for their yearly uncovering…..The icicles are the very last thing that goes on the tree, and then the last thing I do is put the gold lame fabric around the bottom………Now, the ritual of decorating the tree is something I do by myself…….People have offered to help, but it’s something I prefer to do by myself…..I feel very close to Jac as I listen to our favorite Christmas songs and have a few glasses of Port……Taking each ornament with care from their boxes, and putting them securely on the branches brings back so many thoughts of years past…..When it’s all done I look and stare at it, and think of all the wonderful memories I shared with Jac for so many years decorating our Christmas tree…….

………………………..Some of our most favorite ornaments are the Santa and Snowmen ornaments from Patricia Breen. We used to buy them in a wonderful store in Wilton, CT, called “The Christmas Barn”, and that exactly what it looked like……a tiny barn filled to the rafters with all kinds of decorations. They had the most marvelous things that they imported from all over Europe……We would go every year to see what wonderful new things they had brought into the store…….Every year it was something different, and every year we would fill our little straw baskets as we perused around the store……They always had one tree that was decorated in only Patricia Breen ornaments. Jac and I would stop together and marvel at their beauty. The detail of each piece was simply unbelievable….. They were very expensive so we would only buy a couple a season. We would always put them on the tree first in the “best spots”. Out of curiosity I recently went on line and googled “Patrician Breen Ornaments”……holey moley! They have tripled in price!…..Now I will be even more careful when I put them on the tree and take them off…….Unfortunately, the “Christmas Barn” closed a few years ago, and I’ve never found another store near me like it. It was such a happy place to visit!

……………………We always tried to pick unusual ornaments….the Elephant, the hand painted glass candy, the bottle of wine and the grapes all came from different stores and different years. The glass bell came from Denmark. The cricket was such a funny looking thing I had to add him to the tree. We had lots of different fruits and vegetable ornaments too……I particularly loved the pine cones that came in a variety of shapes and colors………Over the years some of the color icicles have fallen and broken so I’m very careful with those, but accidents always seem to happen…….I just have to sweep them up and not think about it too much. I just think….well….they’ve gone to Jac and she’s using them to decorate her tree in heaven.

………………..When we got married in 2000 we bought the “Bride and Groom”, and the “wedding Ring” ornaments. They always get a special place in the front of the tree. The Mermaid and the Fish and Seahorse ornaments are our ode to the sea……There are many Egg shaped ornaments too. They are very ornate and look like Faberge……The clear glass “Star Snowflake” with it’s delicate linear work that looks like icing….was one of our earliest acquistions….it too was from Denmark .

………………….Jac would always select anything with a Red Cardinal depicted on it. She said it reminded her of her grandmother…….The sailing ship at the upper right was something we bought in Kenneybunkport. Jac and her Mom adored Lily of the Valley, and when ever she saw an ornament with them on it she had to have it…….The little tin Merry Go Round at the lower right has all moving parts…….I had to have that one……Go to the next page to see more ornaments!