Kissing Santa and Mrs. Claus

Kari Peterson's mother always displayed this salt-and-pepper set with Santa and Mrs. Claus posed for a kiss. But Peterson's youngest brother Jason liked to switch them so they were facing away from each other. Then Peterson would switch them back. It became a game that they played into adulthood. "This will be the 11th year of celebrating Christmas without Jason," she wrote. "Seeing this sweet happy couple will always be a reminder of the fun we had."

'Naked baby Jesus' angel

Maureen Nelson's father, born in 1916, was less than thrilled as a child to receive a porcelain "naked baby Jesus" angel from his grandmother. After he married, he would hide the ornament, but Nelson's mother always managed to find it — and display it prominently. "Today it adorns the top of our Christmas tree," Nelson wrote. "Sorry, Dad!"

Hanukkah wreath

Several years ago, when Joan Bilinkoff Corbett was director of a psychiatric crisis program, she shared a holiday meal with clients and staff. They talked about family holiday traditions, and she mentioned that she was Jewish and didn't celebrate Christmas. One client thought she must feel left out and took the time to make her a "Hanukkah wreath," even as she coped with mental illness and being away from her family. "I have hung it during Hanukkah ever since," Bilinkoff Corbett wrote.

Acorn man

More than 15 years ago, Kelly Schmit received this handmade ornament from her dearest friend. It symbolizes their lasting friendship and reminds Schmit of their childhood play — building forts, riding bikes no-handed, skiing, skating and sledding. "Times were simple, and kids could play outside and create fun from the environment, no media to distract us," she wrote.

Rock nativity

Kristin Flom's favorite holiday decorations are the "rock people" nativity scene that her late brother created when he was about 14, three years before he died of leukemia. "He left us with indelible memories of laughter, practical jokes and an omnipresent smile," she wrote.

Guardian angel

When Patrick Haynes was 8 months old, in 1962, he spent several weeks in the hospital with a severe case of encephalitis. His mother was told that he'd likely have brain damage, if he survived at all. On Christmas morning, a small wooden angel was sitting on the table next to his hospital bed, a gift from the hospital Women's Auxilliary. For many years, it was the first ornament his mother hung on the Christmas tree. Now it's the first ornament he hangs. His mother died earlier this year. "This Christmas angel will always remind me of the women who wanted to make sure a little boy got something special for Christmas while he was in the hospital, and my mother, who held it in such a special place in her heart for so many years."

provided photo Joan Bilinkoff Corbett's Hanukkah (she spells it Chanukah) wreath

A soldier's gift

Sue Ellingsen treasures this watercolor of her father, Grant Amundson. He sent it to his future wife, Pat, on Christmas Day 1945, when he was serving in Europe, and she was in Minnesota. "Note the loaf of bread and bottle of wine in the tote, the poinsettias in his helmet," she wrote. "This keepsake hangs in our home every year."

A survivor

Last year, a water-main break in downtown Minneapolis drenched the home of Nicolle Toth. "Trudging through knee-deep sludge in the basement, I opened one of my storage bins and burst into tears upon realizing that it was filled with wet and destroyed holiday decorations," she wrote. Then she noticed a simple decoration of construction paper and tin foil that her husband had made when he was 8. It was wet, but otherwise intact. "It will always be a reminder to me that things aren't usually as bad as they seem, and one can be tougher than they look."