Who would we be without our memories? Do we become different people if we don’t have any recollection of what has happened in our past? We obviously can’t remember everything that has ever happened to us, but our brains hold on to specific moments. I often wonder what determines what our brains retain and what is deemed unnecessary. I’m grateful today for the fun, random memories that pop up unexpectedly.

My parents were in town a few days ago and they brought me a few ornaments to put on my new Christmas tree. I was putting my tree up today and saw one of the ornaments they gave me was one lovingly nicknamed “Stripper Santa”. As I was putting it up, the memory of how he came to be played in my mind. I don’t remember a lot of it, just bits and pieces. There was a year or two when I was in middle/high school that we bought paint-your-own ornaments from the craft store. One day we had invited Hannah and Suzzanne over to paint a few with us. I was doing one that had Santa on a star and decided to paint the star behind him a sparkly, bright purple. When I had finished, Suzzanne said he looked like a stripper because of the garish star color and all the glitter. That was such a tiny moment in my life, but I laugh every year when I put up Stripper Santa on the tree. I’m so thankful that memory stuck and is able to still bring me joy 11 years later.