When my husband Don and I celebrated our first Christmas together decades ago, he presented me with a small ornament—a porcelain doll dressed in burgundy. I was delighted. With each Christmas, she takes a prominent spot on the tree, always a reminder of our first Christmas together. So began our tradition of purchasing an ornament to celebrate us each year. When our daughter Sophia was born, we decided to do the same for her, starting a collection of ornaments that someday would be given to her to decorate her tree. Two boys came along and the same was done for them. A few years ago, our older son Douglas requested his ornaments. The plan has always been for the respective collections to be given to the respective child. Yet, as I gathered them for him, I found myself teary to let them go, remembering each of them and why that …