December 19, 1969

Once Nate and I settled the issue of who would buy the Christmas tree each year, we began enjoying our first holiday season together. Though Christmas Eve and Day would be spent with our parents and other relatives, the remaining days of December were just for us.

My sweet Aunt Joyce, an expert seamstress, had made me a casual evening gown of glittering lavender, “….for the times,” she said, “when it’s just you and Nate.” It was low cut and what she called “fetching,” a look Nate would love.

So when it finally came time to decorate our tree, I told Nate I had something special to show him first. When I came into the living room with my sparkly, floor-length outfit on, I learned what Aunt Joyce meant by “fetching.” Without a word, it fetched him right over to me!

Our decorating didn’t take very long. We’d gone to the local mall and each chosen one ornament as the start of a Nyman family tradition, so we did have those. And we had one string of lights for our giant tree, but that was all.

However, with great joy and lots of ceremony, we took turns hanging our two ornaments. Nate had picked a plastic one that resembled a stoplight with “jewels” on all four sides. I chose a delicate glass globe with a glitzy gold star inside.

And our multi-colored lights were a snap to put on, although we did it upside-down, ending with the plug at the top. It made for a good laugh and was no problem to re-hang them, since it was only one string.

Turning out the room lights and sitting on the floor beneath our tree was a moment of magic that would last a long time. Later I wrote in my journal:

Since we’ve been married for almost a month, the strong feeling I hold for Nate has increased ten-fold. It’s really a strong, secure bond of love. It seems that all the things we do for each other never go unreciprocated. Pleasing him pleases me.

The next day we received some news that was even better than a Christmas gift. My Wheaton roommate Julie, the one who was going to “let us store” her grandma’s elegant bedroom set, called to say the furniture would be leaving Wisconsin on a moving truck the very next day.

After living with what we called a bare-naked bedroom for 4 months, at last we would have dresser drawers for putting away our clothes, mirrors to get ready in front of, and best of all, a real bed to sleep in…. with room in it to do lots of other things, too.

We couldn’t wait!

“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” (Romans 12:10)