“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”
~ Winston Churchill
When I was young, my favourite gift was always the one from my Grandmother. She was a nursing assistant who worked the night shift, and would spend her quiet time knitting. It took her the entire year, but she made presents for every one of her grandchildren (and later great grandchildren). I still have every mitten, scarf, hat and slipper that she ever made for me.
When I first opened my school 20 years ago, I wanted to give my students a small present for the holiday season, but it is extremely difficult to get anything meaningful on a very limited budget. So, I decided to follow in my Grandma’s footsteps and make something for each of my students. That’s when I started the tradition of giving small beaded ornaments. They have always been tied together with a chocolate treat and a candy cane (not the peppermint kind!).
About a decade later, I had a lot more students, and a lot less time, and I was debating whether or not it was worthwhile continuing that tradition. When choosing their gifts from the basket, the students usually went for the treat, or the candy cane flavour, but rarely for the particular ornament. I thought perhaps the ornaments meant more to the parents than to the kids, and that maybe it really wasn’t a gift worth giving. That’s when a couple of my students changed my mind …
One of my families had just lost everything in a house fire. Shortly afterwards, the kids came to me and asked if it would be possible to replace their ornaments. Together we went through the box of leftover ornaments, and they knew exactly which ones they’d had! Unfortunately, we couldn’t replace them all, but they did continue to collect them for many years. Since then, I’ve had families tell me that their holiday tree is covered with ornaments that I’d made.
Now, with a growing school, I don’t make all of the ornaments myself. Some of my teenaged students work for us as admin assistants, and they tell me it’s their favourite part of the job! The younger students flock around the desk after class to help put the ornaments together, and one of those students even informed me that she plans to be working at the front desk one day.
Last year we were unable to give these gifts during the holiday season. I am grateful to be able to continue the tradition this year, and wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.