Starting Over

1997 was our first Christmas as a married couple.

That December Matt and I were invited to an ornament exchange. On the way home from work one day I stopped by the store and picked up an ornament. Unbeknownst to me, Matt also picked up an ornament on his way home from work. This was before we had cell phones. We had no communication with each other once we left the house!

Matt chose an Operation Santa ornament by Carlton Cards. It was a little bear inside a k-pot and it was dated 1997. I quickly nixed this as an exchange ornament because I didn't think anyone at the party would want an Army themed ornament. I decided to save it for our tree, it was an infantry guy and Matt was infantry so it made sense.

1998. Second Christmas. Matt is in school to become a Blackhawk Crew Chief. I found an ornament at the PX from the same Operation Santa series and decided to pick it up. This one was a Huey decorated with Christmas lights with Santa in the back. How fitting is that? Matt is working on helicopters and I found a helicopter ornament.

1999. For the third year in a row I picked up an ornament from Operation Santa. It is now declared a tradition. Every year from 1998 until 2009 I bought a helicopter ornament from the series. It was always fun to see which helicopter would be given the honor of ornament status. It was always the first ornament on our tree.

There were two years that I found another ornament to add to the collection. (I think it represents the signal corps.) In 2003, I found a reindeer dressed in BDUs on the phone. I bought the ornament and sent it to Matt in Iraq for his tree there. At the time, we thought the only Christmas greetings we would be able to give each other would be over the phone. Again in 2005 when Matt was in Korea, I found a reindeer on the phone.

This year as soon as I noticed Christmas cards and wrapping paper at the PX, I rushed over to snatch up my helicopter but there were none. There are no Operation Santa ornaments at any of the PX's within driving distance in Germany. In the place where my beloved ornaments were usually displayed, American Greetings has produced as sad attempt at honoring the troops with a series called "Proud to Serve" and quite frankly they are not cool.

We figured this day would come, the day where we must start over with a new family ornament, but I wasn't ready for it to be today. Now we are on the hunt for the new traditional ornament.