blue balls

Christmas 2015 with my brothers, Jerry and Jeffrey

A personalized metallic blue Christmas ball from Aunt Rose meant you were in! That ornament was my Godmother’s signature gift to those joining our family, either by marriage or birth. When my wasband* unwrapped his ball the first Christmas after our wedding, it was official… he was family!
*wasband : A former husband from whom a woman is now divorced.

Christmas presents aren’t the only things that get unwrapped this time of year. Those boxes in the garage that house the decorations also store a lifetime of memories.

For one of my dear friends, 2015 was her first single Christmas. She dug out her boxes Thanksgiving weekend and realized that they held many shared treasures not accounted for in the divorce settlement. She asked me how we divvied our decor following my divorce.

It was easy. I explained that once that time of year had rolled around and my ex had settled into a new home, I put his blue ball in a box. Along with it went the Peter Pan ornament I bought for him the year he declared “I won’t grow up” would be his mantra, and the Superman ornament I purchased because, all joshing aside, the man has always had superhuman physical strength. He demonstrated it a year or so before our wedding when I was moving apartments within the same complex. Rather than enlisting help, he strapped my refrigerator onto his back, carried it down a flight of stairs, across the courtyard, then up a small flight of stairs to my new place… all by himself. I gazed at him in awe, and found myself growing wildly turned OFF! In his head, I’m sure he was thinking “strong like bull,” but in my head I was thinking “dumb like dirt!”

Now that Christmas is in the rearview mirror and it’s time to undecorate, do yourself a favor… only pack those storage boxes with good memories, ornaments, decorations, and mementos -- the one’s that bring joy and harken to a happy time. We all have unnecessary blue balls hanging around. Take a cue from Elsa and simply “let it go!”

My babies!

Cheers to a happy, healthy 2016!

 

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