One of my favorite things to get out is our mangers. We have a lot of mangers. A lot. And each one is completely different. I love them all. They are all special and they all have memories and meanings. We have to get creative about where to put our mangers because we have cats. If we aren’t careful the cats will get to the mangers and this is not good. So, furniture is rearranged and knick knacks are put aside to make room for the mangers.
This year I have inherited some of my mom’s mangers. Her favorite and most treasured Christmas item was her Hummel manger set that her mother and father and sister gave to her in 1960. Every year, when I was little, she would get this manger out and talk about it and how much it meant to her. We were never allowed to touch it because it was so breakable and special. When I had children, I would help my mother get out her manger set and my mom would tell them about how special it was and how much meaning it had to her. I would tell my children to never touch it because it was so special. Well, this year we went and picked it up from my mother’s house and set it up in our house. It seems strange..to have it sitting in my house….not at my mom’s house. It feels wrong, but right at the same time. She talked about how she wanted me to have it when she died. As I set it up….I told my children they couldn’t touch it because it was so special…even more special now…..now that my mom is gone….
Great story. I had no idea you were such a collector.