Our family’s favorite Christmas symbol is an old string of sleigh bells. It is not a recognized Chrismon. Instead it is a family antique that retired here with Wally’s grandparents in the mid-1940s.
In 1977 Wally’s parents and Wally and I decided to open the cabin and spend Christmas here. Stephanie was three years old, and Stacey was a baby. Since Wally’s parents celebrated the holiday on Christmas Eve, Wally and his dad took Stephanie out to the camper parked in the driveway to play games. Grandmother and I furiously decorated and pulled out all the gifts to go under the tree. When we were ready, Wally’s mom pulled the string of sleigh bells off its hook, went to the front door where Steph couldn’t see her, and rang the bells loudly. Stephanie came streaking up the hill and into the house ready to burst with excitement because she “heard the Christmas bells.”
For years after she was old enough to understand the various parts of the Christmas story and legends, she insisted that one year she had heard the Christmas bells at the cabin. Every couple of years she checks the closet to be sure her magic bells are still safe and secure.
Like the symbolic Chrismons on our church tree, that old string of sleigh bells reminds our family that the future is full of promise, the love of family and friends is all around us, and the joy of Christmas follows us through the year.
—Pat Cleaveland
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