Chris and I spent our first Christmas as a married couple 10 years ago. That would be 2001. To mark the special-ness of that year, we were given the ornament below as a gift. Hard to tell, perhaps, but it says, Our First Christmas Together  and has a place on the back of the fireplace to attach to a light so that it appears as though it is glowing. We were to place our photo from that Christmas in the provided frame to always remember how young and vibrant we were that first Christmas that we shared vows.

Our intentions were to wait until the photos were developed after the festivities of that year’s holiday were said and done and then choose the perfect one to replace the stock photo of that handsome couple already placed within the frame part of the ornament.

Fast forward to Christmas 2002.

As we pulled out all the ornaments and enjoyed reminiscing about each one before placing it carefully on the tree, we discovered this ornament – untouched – unchanged – just as it was when we received it as a gift!

Ooops!

We forgot to change the picture. But, by then we kind of thought it would be funny to hang it on the tree with this default photo still in tact! We even named the couple! Gary and Roberta. We thought it would be amusing for guests to come over and happen to be perusing the ornaments on our tree and wonder who that couple was? Close friends of ours? Relatives? Who knows!

Well now, here we are 10 years later and Gary and Roberta still take up residence in our Christmas tree each year and we actually still think its quite funny! I doubt we can ever actually put our real photo in it – why would we at this point?

I remember when I grew up and moved out of my parents house and was lucky enough to get to go through the boxes of ornaments that I grew up enjoying on my Christmas tree as a child. I was given the opportunity to pick some that I would like to have in my own home. It was awfully special for me to be able to carry on some of my favorite traditions via ornaments in my adult life.

I can only imagine how my boys might vie for the chance to bring Gary and Roberta with them when they are grown up and moving out! Nothing says warm family tradition more than a couple of strangers hanging on our Christmas tree each year, right?