At the Gaches home, festive decorations signify more than just a special time of year. They’re direct links to dear family memories.

Lawrence resident Colette Gaches inherited many of her Christmas keepsakes from her mother, Patricia Chandler. Although Chandler died in 1999 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. She lives on in Gaches’ collections.

“My mom would give all the kids a place setting of Spode Christmas dishes each season,” Gaches recalls. “Soon, I had enough to throw a dinner party.”

Her favorite pieces are an old Santa with a rabbit fur beard that originally sat on her mother’s couch and a small wooden nativity scene of Mary, Joseph and Jesus perched on a donkey. They’re not the most fancy or expensive pieces in her massive accumulation, but they evoke the most meaning. She also collects Santas, snowmen, Nativities, nutcrackers, pillows, dishes and books.

She says of her penchant for collecting, “It’s a hobby, and I enjoy gathering the pieces. You tend to outgrow a collection, but I always seem to move on to another item to gather.”

For the Gaches family – and others who have amassed keepsakes through the years – it’s not about the stuff itself but the feeling it brings them.

Inherited memories

Catherine Lyman’s collection of menorahs and dreidels tends to remind her of the friendships she has forged through the years.

“People have given me Hanukkah items over the years,” she says. “I have a silver menorah a friend gave me and another menorah that another friend actually painted at one of those paint-your-own pottery places.”

Kay Almanza hopes her children – Ellen, 8, and Fischer, 11 – will one day appreciate the holiday collections she has started on their behalf. She began setting aside nutcrackers for Fischer after they saw “The Nutcracker” ballet in Kansas City one holiday season. It seemed like a wonderful way to recreate the memory of the ballet, she says.

“It doesn’t mean much to have these collections when you are little, but when my kids grow up and leave the house, I think they are going to be so happy that I collected something for them,” Almanza says.

The family also has a gorgeous grouping of snow globes with tiny, happy scenes inside, which Ellen will inherit one day, and, for Fischer, a fabulous array of German smokers (incense burners) that are said to ward off evil spirits.

“We have beautiful things, but the most cherished are the ornaments that the children have made: hand prints, little stitched pieces, Christmas artwork with globby glitter,” Almanza says. “You cannot buy anything as precious and meaningful as items your kids create with their own two hands.”

Starting a collection

Sometimes, as with the Almanza children, collections are started for us. In my case, a godfather has ritualistically given me a Smithsonian gold star ornament every Christmas. My mom started a silver bell collection for me with the year etched into each unique bell.

Personally, I started a little tree that is devoted to birds, butterflies, dragonflies and pretty much any ornament depicting a winged friend. I adore every collection, and it’s delightful to rediscover them each season.

Find something that you enjoy – an image or item that makes you feel good and reminds you of beloved people and moments in time. You might begin by rummaging around the homes of your parents or grandparents. These foraging sessions may yield the beginnings of a grand assortment of goodies.

Just as a family tree starts from a single root, so too can a lasting collection.