Merry Christmas!

It's time to say Merry Christmas to my Hive family. This year is almost over, there are only a few days left and today most of us are celebrating Christmas, the most beautiful event of the year. I've been waiting for this day and it's finally here. My post will be a bit different as custom here is different.

Yesterday I got my Christmas tree and today was the day to decorate it. Yes, shocking, isn't it? We don't decorate the tree a month before, only on Christmas day and it is always a special occasion.

While I was decorating my tree I was thinking of my childhood and those who are no longer with us. I have kept my childhood Christmas decorations, tried to take good care of them and some that were made of plastic, like the ones on the photo, are still in one piece. It may look ugly to others and not trendy at all, but each piece is a nice memory for me.

Times were tough when we grew up and Christmas was very different. I remember not having Christmas candies on the tree, because we could not get any. We had some old ones, 5 or 6 years old, could not be eaten obviously and we were keeping them for decoration purposes only.

My grandmother was always telling us how Christmas was when she was younger. Those were eave tougher times, especially during the was and after. There were no sweets in the shops food was rationed and to make Christmas look like Christmas, they were hanging homemade biscuits on the tree. The other trick they did was cover walnuts in chocolate silver like paper (old chocolate paper saved for Christmas) and those were hanged on the Christmas tree. Other times, when they had a little bit of sugar, they were making Christmas candy at home.

This one as possibly as old as I am, it's damaged at the top, but always has a special place on my tree. If I want to be honest, I don't even know what it is, but it doesn't even matter. What matters is what it represents and what it means to me.

There are two bells left, one is lovely from outside and empty inside, the other one is still working perfectly. When we were kids, I remember my parents sent me to our room till they took out our presents from the hiding place and these bells were ringing when we were allowed to go in to see the presents.

Over the years I've been buying new decorations as the old ones are slowly breaking and today I have more new decorations than old. The new ones are just as dear to me as the old ones as I have a different story tied to those.

For me, Christmas is always about family and no matter where I am, or who I am with, I still remember the old days my childhood memories, those who I spent Christmas over the years. Those hard times made me appreciate what I have, no matter how little I have.

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, happy holidays. Spend time with your family, enjoy the company of your loved ones.