It’s that time again! The holidays …. The most wonderful time of the year. A time for holiday parties, family gatherings, gift giving, and hearts full of joy. A time for treasuring our past and looking to the future. I, for one, have always loved this time of year. Not for Jack Frost nipping at my nose, no I can do without a visit from old Jack. I love the sounds, smells, sights, sheer excitement, and the wonderful feeling the season brings. It is said that if you love the holidays, you can thank your parents. There is a lot to that, I believe, and I thank my parents for this and more. My love for the holidays runs deep, from my youth to that of my children, and now to my grandchildren … generation after generation passing down traditions and sharing memories.
Every family has its own holiday traditions. During my childhood, it was our tradition to put up our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Waiting for Christmas Eve was sheer torture when I was young! I was ever so envious of my friends and neighbors whose trees shone brightly in their front picture windows all during the month of December but knew that my excitement was yet to come during the magical time only Christmas Eve could bring. In the 1980’s, after I was married with children, we started a new tradition, the Elves. No later than the 2nd of December, my young family would gather together and put out Santa’s workshop, Santa, and the Elves. Now these were not your garden variety elves. No, indeed they were not. This was a set of adorable hand painted Italian figurines created by Whitley Bay, each unique, with its own story of the Elf’s country of origin and the specialty they brought to the North Pole to help Santa with his very important work. There was a workshop and seven elves in total, plus Santa (of course), who some say is also an elf, but I don’t subscribe to that theory. There was Felix, the Head Elf, and puppet maker, Gus, who looked quite grumpy but could read complex toy building plans and was a master ship builder, Casey, the toy tester, Nikki, the mischievous elf from Ireland who proudly painted all of the dolls’ hair green, Woody, the outdoorsman who kept the woodstove stoked, and well … you get the idea. The calendar on the workshop’s wall was dated December 2, so the Elves had to be out so they could begin their hard work no later than December 2. Many friendly arguments ensued between my two children as to the exact spot each elf should be placed. After all, that is what traditions are about, revisiting and replicating what we had in the past. You can check out the Whitley Bay elves and Santa’s workshop yourself on eBay where there are “vintage” sets for sale. I suspect you may want a set for yourself, but keep in mind you’ll have to bring your own magic. It is not in the box.
My children are up and grown now and have families of their own. I contacted them when I downsized homes as I decided it was time to part with some treasured things which I thought my children would enjoy owning. I took photos of my treasures now up for grabs and sent them off to my kids. There were antiques from our time in England and Germany, items of monetary value and things that were purely sentimental. Of all the things, and there were a lot of them, there was only one that my children wanted. The Elves.
So, you ask, what did I do about the Elf dilemma and my unwanted treasures? Well, I donated everything but the Elves, gave my daughter the family set (she is the eldest, after all) and bought another set of Elves, complete with Santa and the workshop on eBay for my son. They both treasure their Elf sets and are now making them part of their holiday tradition for their own children, my grandchildren, to enjoy the magic. I asked them recently what it was about the Elves that made them such a treasure, and their answers were pure and simple. Family, Traditions, Values, Love. It’s unfathomable, isn’t it, that these little four-inch figurines carry so much with them. I somehow managed to place something intangible, called legacy, inside of those little elves and it warms my heart to know I did something right. You see, legacy is so much more than money or material things, items you bequeath. Legacy includes the intangible feelings and values you hope to pass down.
As you sit by the fire (or at the beach), enjoying all the trappings of this wonderful season, I hope you have time to reflect, to share stories, good food, and an abundance of laughter with family and friends. I hope you continue the traditions of the past and create new ones of your own. Each of these is a building block of your legacy that will sustain those you love for many years. What a special gift you can give.
At the risk of sounding as if I am writing this from Whoville, perhaps the holidays are not simply about the gifts that we buy and the cookies we enjoy. Perhaps they, just like the Elves, mean quite a bit more.
May this special season be filled with legacy building moments for you and yours,
Darlene Duncan