Identify Yourselves

This isn't it, of course....but it's kinda sorta like the one I remember. 

If you celebrate Christmas, it's time once again to ask the important question: Are you a STAR person? Or an ANGEL person?

For the top of your Christmas tree, of course.

I was raised in a strictly ANGEL environment. My childhood Christmas tree angel was made of plastic, surrounded by pouffy white stuff, attached to the tree with a cone of boing-y wire, and held two plastic candles aloft each lit by a white light bulb. Mom and Dad still put an angel atop their tree, even though I'm sure the one that I remember has long since crumbled away.

So the first Christmas that John and I were engaged, as the holidays approached, we blissfully imagined us celebrating the holidays together. I told him that I would begin looking for our very own plastic illuminated tree top ANGEL.

He looked at me, horrified. "No! It has to be a STAR! The star of Bethlehem! And it has to be made out of tin and tinsel! With a clear christmas tree light bulb in the center!!"

I was stunned. I examined my beloved with dismay. He......he.....was....a....STAR person? How could I have been dating this guy for two years and not known this?

Clearly we had to overcome this significant obstacle in our relationship before our engagement could continue. What had begun as a hand-holding misty-eyed evening of envisioning our future holidays had turned into a heated argument.

I remember weeks of debate which ended with my concession that our first tree -- I wasn't promising anything beyond that -- would indeed have a star on top. What I don't remember is what John said or did to change my mind, since that was and continues to be a difficult thing to do.

Ah, well. He's a persuasive kind of guy.

So ever since 1980, I converted to the STAR camp. It took awhile for me to become accustomed to this. I kept searching shops and boutiques and catalogues to find the perfect star topper that would really feel like my own. The one that I finally chose was thankfully durable as heck, since it was carefully packed away and used for decades. Until about five years ago when it died and there was no fixing it. At all.

Since then, I've been on yet another star search, but I think this year I've found a suitable replacement star, by golly. And the one that I chose really makes a statement about how far I have come in my path from an angel to star person.

Instead of a modest little twinkling tin star on our tree, I've moved up to having a STAR, people. Oh, yeah. I'm a star person after thirty some years and I'm finally not ashamed to admit it.

I've come a long way, baby.