My Favorite Christmas Decoration

Long before there was "Elf on the Shelf," my Gram had this random elf decoration with which I was absolutely obsessed.

I can't describe to you the memories I have playing with this elf when I was a little kid. It was always in my life, always on display each Christmas at my grandmother's house in Malden. When I'd see it, I knew Christmastime was upon us. To this day, when I look at it, I get a warm, fuzzy feeling in my belly that just "feels" like Christmas for me.

After my grandmother passed away a few years ago, my wife grabbed the elf for me. Honestly, the elf has hung together pretty well considering he's probably about 50 years old. It's really not the decor my wife is going for, so it's not prominently displayed downstairs by our tree. Instead, when my wife unpacks all of the holiday decorations from the bins in the attic, she has been putting it on my nightstand by my bedside.

During the Christmas season, the little elf is the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning, and it's the last thing I see as I'm heading to sleep at night.

I KNOW this sounds corny, but this little beat up, 50-year-old elf doll still gives me a feeling of Christmas. I think of my Gram every time I see it. I still get the same excited, warm feeling I felt when I was five-years-old.

It's one of my most prized possessions.