Dick continued a Klade family tradition that dates back nearly 150 years when he celebrated his 80th birthday on January 1. Dick's
grandfather Friedrich C. Klade and father Fred J. Klade both were born on Christmas Day. Our New Years guy
somehow picked the wrong holiday to arrive (his mother always joked that he was
stubborn), but for us it is a special day nonetheless.
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| We more than a half century ago began carrying on family traditions when decorating our Christmas tree. Here we chatted before a completed tree while son Lee rode "Blaze." Blaze was a gift from his Grandfather Ed Steinmetz. Our matching sweaters were gifts knitted by Sandy's Mom, Vannie Steinmetz. |
We've just finished an annual task that has been a family tradition
for decades. Both Dick and Sandy 's parents decorated their Christmas trees in silver and blue every year, and we
adopted an identical practice more than 50 years ago in our first year of
marriage.
The tree decor always has featured only blue ornaments. Until it became impossible to buy good quality tinsel, family members meticulously placed tinsel strips in every available space, a process that took many hours. We now maintain the silver look with strips of glass and snow flakes.
The blue glass ornaments we bought during our first year
together have faded a bit with age, but all have survived a half dozen moves in
their original thin cardboard boxes and many annual unpackings
and repackings.
They bring us joy year after year.
May you enjoy happiness continuing the good things in your
life in 2017 and many years beyond.
