How I became one of “THOSE” Christmas people

 

How I became one of “THOSE” Christmas people.  

 

I have always loved to decorate for the holidays.  When I lived in Birmingham, I had someone who later became an excellent friend who came and decorated for me for Christmas.  I would go and buy all the elements I liked- ribbons- different textures, colors, fabrics, florals, ornaments, and she would tell me what would work and what wouldn’t, and then she would put up my tree.  It was one of those things that I splurged on.  Seeing my home decorated with such precise thoughtfulness brought me great joy.  It also shined a little brighter that I didn’t have to put all those ornaments on a 12 foot tree.  😊

That friend taught me a lot along the way about decorating and design.  She taught me how to look at a room with perspective, a vision, and even how to have a perception about sizing items in the room or on a tree. Most importantly, you also needed a perception of what the other person wanted to feel when they walked into that room. 

My friendship with her and a few other people in Birmingham sparked an interest in décor and interior design that I never knew I had or wanted. *My spark is DIM compared to these souls* Those souls lit a spark for me in many ways.  They gave me the courage to try decorating on my own in my own home, and in other homes.  I never knew how grateful my heart would be until many years later. 

In August of 2023 when Jeffrey died by the end of the month, I was struggling to walk from my bed to my computer to work.  I was at the lowest place I think I had ever been.  I mean without going into all the details of the five years leading up to where I was included losing my mawmaw, a bitter divorce, quitting a dream job, my mom dying, my best friend dying, and then losing the only chance I ever got to be a mother.   When I say I was done.  I was done.  I couldn’t figure out how to fake it through the day anymore.  I was looking for anything to help fill the void. 

It was about this time of the year, and I felt a little glimmer of excitement about decorating for fall.  It had been more than 5 years since I had been able to get all my decorations out and play.  So, I did.  Doing that little bit of decorating in the house helped my heart so much that I made a Facebook post about asking anybody else if they needed any help with fall or Christmas décor.   

That post in 2023 turned into many trees, mailboxes, wreaths, 4 tons of glitter, two elves, and a partridge in a Pear tree.   That post and GOD saved my life.  It sounds dramatic but it’s true. 

I know that in each house I visited last year we were both helping each other with something.  They were helping me deal with my grief and I was helping them with whatever they had going on in their lives.  I always left recharged and with a full heart.  I am eternally grateful to those who took a chance on me and my over-the-top Christmas décor.  You will never know how much it means to me.  And for you same wonderful peeps who have already got my calendar humming into November 2024.  My heart smiles when I think of how God has brought all this together.   If you want to be one of those Christmas people too….. I still have open dates on the book!  😊

From the bottom of my heart,

Jenn