Monday Memory: Our First Christmas

December 10, 2007

Since I mortified Randy in my recent '80s Fashion Post, I thought I should humiliate myself this week. This is our very first Christmas as a married couple, and I have to ponder my outfit. I really don't understand it. In general, I am a jeans kind of girl, so I have no idea why I am wearing what appears to be some kind of stretchy knit pants. And a loud, blocky sweater to top off the outfit. I can only say that it must have been some phase I was going through at the end of 1989. Phew.

Now that we have the fashion faux pas out of the way, I'd like to point out some other classics. First, the bookshelf. My brother Stephen made that for me. Apparently he thought it would be clever to have the shelves at various angles. Indeed, it did fit our eclectic style; the problem was that we couldn't properly fit all our books on the shelves. Eventually--years and years later--Randy actually disassembled the unit and put the shelves on normally.

Next, note the NOW candle on top of the shelf. See how the "O" has a peace sign in it, for "Peace NOW'? That was a prize-winning thrift store find. It's only been in the past couple of years that the Peace Now candle finally broke beyond repair. We never did light that baby.

In my arms is our most favorite cat ever, Sebastian. She was the prettiest cat we ever had, with her green eyes and perfect calico coat. She was still pretty even after her tail caught fire. Sadly, she got hit by a car about a year after this photo was taken.

And the tree itself. Wow. I believe we got that at Big Lots for about $5, which is probably all we had in our checking account. I bought the apple ornaments, the red bows, a box of balls, and three other ornaments. We still have the bows and the three other ornaments, plus a stray apple or three. I wonder what ever happened to that tree?

Our first Christmas. I bought Randy a Kelty backpack, and he bought me a VCR. Or maybe I bought him a CD player that year; I'm sure he'll remember correctly. Randy was a student at East Tennessee State University and I, already a college graduate, had a lucrative job working at a daycare Preparatory Preschool. Like I said, we had about $5 in our checking account. But we were happy. And if we could have known where we'd be in 18 years, we'd not have believed such a life of blessings.

(And better fashion choices.)