Winter 2024

T H E W R I T E P U R P O S E
CHRISTY JANE KYSER
Pinterest does this to me annually.
Every season, my feed fills with beautiful holiday ideas. Tempting me to create a Willy Wonkaville in the
front yard. Candy canes out of pool noodles. Popsicles the size of my tallest son. Posts that make me think,
“I can do that.”
The home goods stores don’t help either. Aisles and aisles of lights and blow-ups and special effects.
The multi-themed Christmas trees through-out the house. Color schemes in each room. An interior
Fantasy in Lights. I’m drawn. I’m challenged. I’m committed to a house worthy of a Pinterest pin.
And then.
I drag out my boxes. I sift through the memories. And one by one, the house reflects last year’s Christmas
and the one before that and the one before that.
If you ask my children what they remember about Christmas, they’ll describe the decapitated caroling
family, each head held on by gorilla glue. Or the Santa nesting doll, remarkably intact. Only one tree in
the house with absolutely no coordinating ornaments. The sparkly ball we purchased in New York City
hangs next to my son’s picture framed by puzzle pieces. The Christmas village sits among a snowstorm of
stretched cotton. Some lights work. Some don’t. All chimneys glued to the houses.
And outside.
Oh outside.
Lights will wrap around bushes to the point of embarrassing the neighbors and prompting a letter from
the HOA. I’ll climb a wobbly ladder to hang my LED light that more resembles the star of David than the
star of Bethlehem. It casts a glow on the DIY manger cobbled together from a stolen wood pallet.
Think back on a Christmas gone by. What do you remember? My fondest? Aunt Betty’s tree in the 1970s.
She hired me to decorate it each year.
Her way. Very particular.
Lights first (large colored ones – no delicate twinkly lights in the 70s). Wrap-around garland next, aged
and worn. Next up, family ornaments and then enough tossed silver tinsel to resemble a blizzard. Same
every year. The tree we all expected to see. The tree that remains in my heart some 40 years later.
I’m not knocking the gorgeous homes at Christmas. I’m envious, in fact, as I try each year to find
inspiration. I guess it boils down to tradition. To ensure some constant year after year whether it’s a
Callaway Gardens driveway or a contestant in The Great Christmas Light Fight. Spend a minute to recall a
favorite childhood Christmas then let’s resurrect the same experience for our children and grandchildren.
Let’s create some memories.
Happy Holidays from The Write Purpose!
104 EAST ALABAMA LIVING