The storage containers have been lowered down from the attic. Huge bins have been hauled up from the basement. Each one is filled with baubles and trinkets, garlands and children's crafts - a history of tradition and memories.
Some are showing their age. Yet another vintage ornament shatters in my hand and I cry. A few of our children's school crafts are hardly holding together, but I haven't got the heart to discard them, because I know the stories. I once held the hands of the people who gifted my home with all of these treasures.
The Adventstollen, pfeffernusse, almond spritz, gingerbread, and three different kinds of shortbread, including my mother's shortbread recipe have all been baked. Along with all the rich buttery flavours, a bounty of rich memories of the aromas and treasures that came from her kitchen fill my heart.
Each heady baking aroma evokes memories of my family - from the sublime to the ridiculous, the poignant to the marvelous.
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| Christmas 1972 |
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| Hubby with our two, 1987 |
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| Granddaughter #1, 2019 |
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| Granddaughter #2, 2021 |
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| Two sets of little hands, 2024 |
There is a practiced ritual to all this work of Advent yet there is nothing ordinary about it. It is a sensory feast that evokes stories of old while at the same time adding new ones. It is an annual open-hearted opportunity to look closely, listen carefully, inhale deeply, savour slowly, touch and be touched gently, and experience that peace that passes all understanding.
©2025 April Hoeller
As a hopeless nostalgic, I adore this post. Memories are one of the pillars of Xmas, and It is this season that, who knows when, will trigger the long stored or sometimes forgotten feeling.
ReplyDeleteExactly! Lots of hidden treasures...
DeleteAnd it also occurs to me that each Christmas we are building future memories,, specially for the younger ones. So past, present and future go around and around, specially in this season.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that's what I'm doing. Making memories for all.
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