Ornaments from afar

Blessed 12th Day of Christmas
Some of my ornaments come from quite a distance. This one I bought in Mobile AL when I was there in 2003. I was still homeschooling Nick and this field trip was our last hurrah. We packed up my sister-in-laws van, picked up my mother-in-law and headed a 1000 miles south. We met our friends, the Stumms, there and really enjoyed ourselves. My mother-in-law did not walk the parade route but we brought a beach chair and a blanket so she could be comfortable watching the floats go by. Mobile AL's Mardi Gras actually predates the one in New Orleans and is much more family oriented. You can see the 3 traditional Mardi Gras colors on this bulb.

This beautiful bulb has not traveled as far since I purchased it in 1997 in Cincinnati which is only 200 + miles from here. We were in Cincy for a party at my nephew Peter's house. Most of the Cleveland branch traveled down for the weekend. We had a field trip to a mall. I hate shopping but when I came across these beautifully swirled purple bulbs, what could I do????






This ornament has traveled the farthest and is the ornament I have owned the longest. In 1969, Bea Richards and Deaconess Martha Boss were returning to Hong Kong to work in a handicraft center employing handicapped people. Miss Richards was a long time member of the congregation I grew up in. She was a Sunday School teacher, nursing home visitor, taught VBS in Cleveland's inner city and was very active in the LWML. She worked here at a furniture store until she retired at the age of 65 in 1969. She lived here but her heart was always in Hong Kong. At the age of 65, she sold all that she had so she could finance her way to Hong Kong to use her talents to help administer the handicraft center and send the crafts back to her connections in LWML. She lived in a modest room in a YMCA and worked at her heart's desire until she died in 1985. She was an inspiration to me -- she didn't need a program, a district or a Synod to accomplish great things; she just went out and did it. Before she left, she gave me this ornament and I cherish it as well as the memory of Bea Richards and her 10,000 mile journey to help God's children in Hong Kong.

You've seen bits and pieces so I thought you might like to see the tree put together. The purple bows were made over 20 years ago and have faded from their deep color. At our tree trimming party in 1984, my friends brought ribbon, wire and white lights and we spent the evening making these bows. I have added purple lights to the tree but the bows of long ago remain.



All my granddaughter wants on the twelve day of Christmas is her two front teeth. She lost the second one today!