This post appeared a few years ago in our Advent Calendar. I have been lecturing on a Rhine tour and have now just arrived in Weimar. I am flooded with memories of the many Christmases my family spent here (but sadly not this year). So, feeling nostalgic, I thought I would repost this essay and look forward to returning home and bringing Wally out once again.
Perhaps you have a battered sentimental object that comes out only at Christmastime. Maybe it’s something that family members gently ridicule, or urge you to toss away?
Mine is a wooden toy soldier whose name, for some reason, is Wally. He’s about two feet tall, with hinged arms and legs. His paint is nicked and he no longer stands up well by himself. But I place him at the hearth every year for Christmas.
Wally holds the title of the most sentimental Christmas object in my house. That title used to belong to another object until last spring when we moved: a beloved snowman made by my mother using 1950s-era foam balls and tissue paper. The snowman’s felt black hat, eyes, nose, and wry smile were gone. His tissue “snow” had yellowed to the point where even I had to admit it was just plain awful.
So rightly or wrongly, I succumbed to everyone’s begging and let him go. But Wally? He’s still with us. And he has an even a better story.
In 1985, at the end of my first semester of teaching at Southern Methodist University, I was driving home from turning in my grade sheets (think triplicate forms, carbon paper). Instead of being relieved, I felt profoundly sad. Never again would I be engaged with this particular group of talented students, studying together as we had been for sixteen weeks. I remember nearly crying.
Then, I drove past a garden shop advertising Christmas decor at 90% off. Well, who can resist that? The merchandise inside was gorgeous. Five bags of ornaments later, I was almost out the door when a wooden soldier tucked behind a flocked tree caught my eye. Ordinarily such a decoration would be too costly, but at 90% off?
Well, that’s how I acquired Wally, whose now-loose joints cause him to spend more time collapsing than standing at attention. He emerges at the end of Advent, signaling that it’s time to erect the tree. He is, if you will, our Christmas sentry.
We treasure objects like Wally because of the qualities they symbolize. Wally reminds me of a specific day when I understood just how much that first semester of teaching at SMU had meant. Years spent in libraries and practice rooms had allowed me a chance to engage in something I cherished. But Wally also symbolizes to me God’s ongoing grace, since those joys—teaching and learning—would be extended to me across many more decades, even unto today.
Some sentimental objects bespeak God’s grace. Other’s bespeak God’s mercy. Some objects may tell a different story—maybe one not as joyful, recalling painful memories. But they still hold a place in our hearts. We keep these objects because we still learn from them, grow with them. At least, that’s how it seems to me.
So unpack your seasonal treasures with pleasure. Take a minute and tell your children and grandchildren about them. Write something sweet about them on social media, or post them to Instagram, if you enjoy doing that. Or simply relish them over a cup of tea.
God works in mysterious ways during the season of Advent. And one path to our hearts may be through just the precious object you cradle in your hands.
Oh Carol ~ THANK YOU for this post. I have so many of these kinds of things (sentimental and memory evoking)… I have always wanted to cling to them in spite of folks saying I shouldn’t and it’s so nice to feel I’m not the only one who feels as I do! May your Advent and Christmas celebrations bring you much joy as we come down to the end of this year and get ready to embark on a new one! In His grace, Kay
I remember this post and sent you a picture of our Christmas tree elf who guards the presents under the tree! It is not the elf, but the fact that he was sent to us by my Dad the first Christmas after our first child was born with the note that he was to guard the presents. That child is now 57 years old!
Carol, it is always great to read your posts. I imagine many people have special decorations that they have saved over the years. My wife and I are no exception.
When my wife and I celebrated our second Christmas (the first one had a “Charlie Brown” tree, that fell over from the weight of one lonely ornament), my parents gifted some ornaments that they still had from their first few Christmases. We still have them, and hope to pass them on to our son, along with other keepsakes that we have kept over the past 35 years. Merry Christmas to you and your family!