Christmas Paraphanalia

[Gunny]

Gunny, my dad missed most of our Christmases until I was about nine years old.  Said the hardest part of four tours in Viet Nam was Christmas, he'd sit in his hooch and read the letters about us that mom sent, look at the pictures, and cry like a little boy.

Four tours, your Dad must be a Hell of a Man. Respect.

My kids weren't born until after my Vietnam days but I choose Embassy Duty or applied for and was selected, which got me sent to every shithole Consular office or Embassy we (the US) maintain, after Vietnam.

Read your post, felt your Dad's pain. Bet he's a good Man.

 

[Queen]

Dad is gone now, I miss him so much. Back then he was just a young Air Force sergeant with too much civil engineering skill, they kept sending him back (1962-1968) to build forward bases and firebases and such. His last tour was during Tet, I think if they'd tried to send him back again my mom would have lost her mind, it was an awful lot to put on a young small family.

By the time he left in '67 I knew enough to know he couldn't leave the house if he was out of uniform, so I snatched his rack of ribbons off his dress jacket and wouldn't give them back. Seven year old logic at its best.

Much respect for your service as well, people never understand, when someone is serving more than a couple of years, there's usually a family in the mix, one that gets left a lot.

 

[Queen]

eoewan - sorry for the hijack, Christmas discussions usually pull my mind to those long gone days.

 

[Cheli]

Cheli, my kids have no problem saying no to me. lol Last move and downsizing I did I offered items up, most were taken while others went to Goodwill. There is no guilt inducing here. 

Oh no, I didn't mean to imply that you would do that....sorry if that's how it came across.  I was just saying that some children are afraid to speak up and say no, not that you're kids are like that.  Nor did I mean all mothers play the guilt.  hahaha  As humans we tend to attach emotion to things, and neither side necessarily realize they're doing it.

I like your perspective.  I don't have children but I definitely wouldn't want my family to have to deal with my stuff when I pass.  But since I'm on my road to being a minimalist that won't be an issue.

 

[eoewan]

No apologies necessary Queen and Cheli. I'm always up for discussions. People are interesting.

 

[DannyB1954]

Would it be too odd to keep a couple of ornaments to hang from the ceiling as I travel? Or is this just too weird?

Only if you think so, (in both instances). Others should not be in a position to determine what you like. You like it there, put it there.

 

[Queen]

Just went through the Christmas box again, in preparation for our move, still kept the old ornament and the silly pizza box star. Sometimes those are some of the best things to hang on to.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I think you've already got a lot of great advice. Not too much I can add to what hasn't already been said. Having lost a lot of close family all before I was 30....all my grandparents, my dad, numerous aunts and uncles I'd acquired a lot of "stuff" from them. All of it had meaning, though probably more to the ones that passed than me personally. Then having moved 10 times myself in the last 18 years I had to weed through a lot of it each move trying to take what I thought was the most important. Now on the verge of yet again another move, that original pile of stuff which could have filled half a moving truck is down to just a few trinkets and i've never missed any of what's gone. The memories remain even when the item doesn't. Pictures also invoke more nostalgia and memories than any item ever could and they hardly take up any room at all, especially when digitized.