We asked readers to share stories about how their ornaments have special meaning during the Christmas season. Here are some of their responses;

Family heirloom

My grandparents emigrated to the United States from the Ukraine in the early 1900s. They farmed in Mount Bethel and eventually moved to Easton.

Christmas celebrations were simple but memorable with the traditional Ukrainian feast on Christmas Eve.

Decorations were sparse. They didn’t have a tree. But the Christmas Angel hanging in the kitchen window to greet all as they arrived. As a child, I looked forward in seeing the angel every Christmas.

As time went on the angel eventually disappeared — Probably packed away and forgotten.

But I remembered the angel and wondered what ever happen to her.

Years later my daughter and I were at the Christmas flea market at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Bangor. There on the floor in the same battered box was the angel — same flowing white hair, same starry robe.

I really couldn’t believe my eyes, which were also getting my little teary. Was it the same angel? Who knows. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere.

It certainly was old; not a knock-off; never seen in an antique store. I like to think that the angel came back to me to remind me of my grandparents and my Ukrainian Heritage.

Every year she graces the top of our Christmas tree and will continue to be passed down as our family heirloom.

Katherine Baldwin

Kunkletown

Handmade ornaments

Albert H. Vermillion, DDS of Summit Hill enjoyed using his hands and dexterity to make gifts for family, friends, neighbors and his patients.

For many years he glued Popsicle sticks to make miniature sleds to hang on Christmas trees. Each one was painted and personalized. He gave hundreds of them to family, friends and his patients.

He continued to make handmade gifts until his passing in 1985.

To this day many people tell his family that they still hang the red sled on their Christmas Tree and remember Dr. Vermillion.

Maxine Vermillion

Summit Hill

A delicate display

Most of the ornaments on this wreath belonged to my grandmother, Liz Naratil. My mother, Betty Steigerwalt, inherited them.

When she died, they were passed to me, Becky Steigerwalt. I stored them for years thinking they were too fragile to hang on my tree.

But I decided that it was a shame not to display them. So, Helene Dempsey made them into a wreath for me. And it hangs in my dining room, carefully, every Christmas.

Rebecca Steigerwalt

Lehighton