Unwrapping The Memories

Written for Sunday Whirl Wordle – #737. Our host is
Brenda Warren; her prompt words for this week are
shown below.  Here’s where the prompts took me.

lingering, felt, sharp, human, point, oddly,
full, sense, instead, joy, sit, and place

Tricia wrapped each ornament in tissue paper, the lingering scent of pine still sharp in the air. She felt the weight of the glass ball in her palm – the one her mother had given her twenty years ago – and turned it slowly, watching light dance across its surface.

There was no point in rushing this. Instead, with Sinatra singing softly in the background, she would let herself sit with each memory as it surfaced. The wooden reindeer from her first apartment with Gregory. The oddly misshapen clay star Finn had made in kindergarten; now he was in college. Each ornament had its place in the boxes, but also in the full journal of her life.

She understood why some people found this task melancholy, but she felt a quiet joy. These weren’t just decorations being put away. They were proof of continuity, of traditions kept and love sustained. Though inanimate objects, each year they made an appearance, marking time in a very human way.

The tree will come down tomorrow; tonight, she would take her time, honoring each sense of connection these small treasures carried.

NAR©2025

This is “Christmas Memories” by Frank Sinatra

Wordle 737

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