Looking Ahead to 2007

As I removed the outside lights and took the wreath down from the front door, I thought about how our next Christmas would be while living in the RV. Perhaps the wreath could be mounted on the front grill and maybe the lights could go around the windshield. The artificial Christmas tree that I bought at Wal-Mart three seasons ago will be sold in the garage sale, but the tree ornaments will go in storage.

Last night, I packed Suzie and Christopher's "Baby's First Christmas" bulbs in red and green crates along with the delicate beaded-pearl stars and bells that Grandma struggled to make with her arthritic fingers. The brass Cathedral of Learning, the German costumed doll, half a dozen Santas and many more snowmen ornaments now lay cushioned in bubble wrap between cardboard partitions. I cannot part with these special keepsakes.

Ed expressed his sentimental feelings too. He asked me to place some ornaments in a wicker box to have in the coach for next year and the years to come when we are on the road. I selected a Santa that Suzie and I bought at the gift shop of Westminster College's historic chapel in Fulton, MO. Next, I packed one of Grandma's handmade stars; the heart surrounding two doves we bought in a town like the TV set of Mayberry; the bird ornament Suzie gave Ed this year; my Pixie & Dixie mice from my sorority little sis; a skiing snowman; the Lenox ice-fishing Santa that Jason and Lisa gave me in a particularly cold winter at North Park Lake; and the crooked pine tree just like the live one we cut for Christmas 1996. Last, I added the winged angel with yellow hair and holding a red bird, the ornament that I made one afternoon at a shop in Prescott, AZ for Ed. These will be easy to stash and bring warmth to my heart wherever the road will lead.