In 1982 we started the tradition of watching the movie “It’s a wonderful life” {Which airs quite often on the Hallmark Movie Channel} 1982 was a very hard year for our family. My Husbands Father had just pasted away a couple weeks before Christmas after a long battle with cancer.  My Husband worked for his Father in the family business; times were hard, the company was suffering and money…well, was pretty much not there.

Not having money for Christmas….we actually had thoughts of not having one that year because of financial problems with the Family business… combined with the sadness of just losing our Father.

That’s when “It’s a Wonderful Life” came into play….we happened to watch it during this time, which got us to thinking we really do have a wonderful life.  We pulled ourselves together and got busy putting together a little Christmas for our two small children.

We gathered together some “scrap” items we had around the yard and house and came up with a few things to make for the kids… For our Daughter we made a little table & chair set. Make with left over plywood and PVC pipes,  I cut up an old blanket for the fabric seat of the little chair.  For our Son, my husband fashioned a marble game using left over PVC pipes and a bag of  marbles for 50 cents.

As a gift for each other we wrote notes of appreciation and love.

It was one of the best Christmas’s we ever had.

Over 25 years have pasted since that time…but we still try to watch “It’s a wonderful Life” each year.  Making memories together is important, and any way we can do special things with our Family is a Treasure.

That simple little Christmas many years ago, will always be a treasured sweet memory for us.

Giving a gift of yourself is a wonderful way to add a sweet memory to a child’s life…Hallmark has just the perfect idea with their Hallmark  recordable Holiday Storybooks.

Which is perfect for me….I have 7 Grandchildren who live both near & far, they love to be read too….and since I can’t always do it in person….this will be a perfect way to share a little of me with them.   Just one way I hope to add a treasured memory to their life.

Do you have a Hallmark Moment you would like to share?

I was provided with a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament and a Hallmark recordable Holiday Storybook-  for review.