Merry Christmas everybody! The big day is almost here. To celebrate, we asked our followers on the Southern Standard Facebook page to share pictures of their Christmas decorations in the comments. On page 8A of today's edition, we're happy to present some of the submissions on a page sponsored by our friends at Reddick Brown Ford.
Seeing everyone's excellent decorations makes me reflect on my own holiday festoonery. Decorating for Christmas at my house has undergone quite the evolution over the years. My wife, Ashley, and I came to our first married Christmas 14 years ago with very different relationships with the holiday and decorating.
My dad, Joe Wright, was a slightly more subdued Clark Griswold when it came to Christmas decorating. During his over 30 years as a 4th-grade teacher at Eastside Elementary School, his room became well-known for its Christmas decorations. Other classes would take tours of Mr. Wright's room to see his lights, displays and Christmas village chalkboard drawing that his students contributed to.
At home, he was equally enthusiastic about decorating. I have many memories of holding the ladder as he climbed into precarious places to secure more Christmas lights. Many who traveled Smithville Highway in the '90s might best remember his decoration handiwork by the large, blue Dallas Cowboys star that covered almost the entire side of our house. Christmas decorations were always a very big part of my childhood holidays.
My wife, on the other hand, is a child of retail. Her parents, Garry and Helen Gillentine, run Ashley's Attic, whose busiest time of the year is Christmas. They are often kept so busy ensuring everyone else's Christmas is perfect that they don't put as big of an emphasis on it at home.
It was this difference in raisings which led to a Christmas clash our first year of marriage. I was ready to go all in on decorating while she was frustratingly ambivalent about it. Over 14 years, we've come to a nice, happy middle ground when it comes to decorating. I've reeled in my inner Griswold while her internal grinch has seen its heart grow a few sizes.
The compromise saw us go from one or two large Christmas trees completely decked out to several smaller, more specifically themed trees. Ashley loves a good theme, so this year we have seven trees, none more than four-feet tall. She has a pink candy-themed tree, a white Disney Princess tree and a mermaid tree. I have a black fiber-optic Star Wars tree and we share a rainbow tree decked out with a hodge-podge of geeky interests including Gene Simmons of KISS, Emmitt Smith, Nashville Predators, Mickey Mouse, Ralphie and the leg lamp, Dora the Explorer, a pink flamingo, a squirrel and more. In the spare bedrooms we have a couple more, less decorated trees.
However you and your family choose to mark the occasion, I, on behalf of all of us at the Southern Standard, would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas. Thanks for reading!
Standard Managing Editor Seth Wright can be reached at editor@southernstandard.com
