‘ON OUR TREE AND IN OUR HEARTS’
In the countdown to the holidays, the Star is sharing readers’ stories of their favourite holiday ornaments. Today: the memory of a father, in the form of a thoughtful present. Dad died June 1, 1978. He was 49. A high school math teacher, he was a complicated, curious man. He was an athlete in his youth, right up until he died; he also was a poet, a reader, a gardener and a painter, in all mediums.
In the weeks following his death, my wife, brother and mother were tasked with what to do with his things: books, newspaper clippings, sketches, oils and pastels to name a few. And paint supplies by the bucketful.
With two little girls, I decided to keep his custom-made artist’s easel and paint box in the hopes that one of them might take up the hobby using their grandfather’s materials. But the oils and paints needed to be tossed or donated because there were so many.
Cathy, who is a family friend and a Grade 1 teacher, said she’d be happy to take the paints and use them with her students during craft time. I was happy to make sure Dad’s paints were put to good use.
A week before Christmas, Cathy came by. Enjoying some tea, she gave me a little box. In it, a ceramic Christmas candy cane, painted with my dad’s oils!
The ornament is always the last one lovingly placed on the tree. Dad is always on our tree and in our hearts through this gift. —Lionel Llewellyn, Hamilton Do you have a story about a treasured ornament to share? Email your essay to life@thestar.ca and put ornament in the subject line.