Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Kwanzaa Angel

This is the most modern of my favorite ornaments that you'll be seeing over the next week. She's a Hallmark ornament I bought for myself after I was all grown up, but before I was married. I was dating David at the time so chances are I was of drinking age (although that's not certain - for two and a half years I wasn't...).

I remember seeing her and thinking she was the prettiest angel ever. I loved her sweet face and simply had to have her for my tree. I kept thinking about her for days after first seeing her, and eventually went back to the store and bought her.

At the time, it didn't even register with me that she was a Kwanzaa angel. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I was familiar with Kwanzaa at the time. All I knew was that I thought she was beautiful and peaceful.

This ornament represents the beginning stages of me creating my own home and creating my own kind of Jenn Christmas. And a Jenn Christmas is, admittedly, a somewhat unique creation. We have interesting holiday traditions at our house. For example, just two nights ago my husband pulled out our menorah (which was a Christmas gift he gave me about three or four years ago - no, he's not Jewish in case you're wondering...), lit the candles, and explained the importance of Hanukkah to our kids. He also explained that he was the one who should light the candles because traditionally the head of the household was the one who should do this. (I had to shut down my daughter's lecture at that point or the candles would have been puddles of wax before he finished the story.)  

Anyway - the Jenn (and David) kind of Christmas might seem a little odd to others, but our approach makes my heart sing every year. This little angel reminds me that I can create my own home and my own traditions.

 I can't wait to see what my kids create in their own homes one day.

1 comment:

Megan Willome said...

I love that David gave you a menorah as a Christmas present!