As I read of the waste Christmas produces, such as wrapping paper and greeting cards, my thoughts drift back to Christmases Past, and to people who lived “green” long before the expression became trendy.

My parents married in 1931, during the Great Depression. Dad was lucky to work four days a week in an office, and Mom was dismissed from her own secretarial position because only one wage earner per family was allowed. Losing the job she loved was a painful memory that would never leave her.

Their lives during Depression were happy. They had time to enjoy life together and had money for a new electric refrigerator, and even a new automobile. For the children of immigrants, they must have felt on top of the world, living the American dream. Yet, their tastes remained simple and their wants, few. Continued prosperity brought them financial security, and, for me and my sister, college educations. Mom and Dad never spent much on themselves.

And that brings me to Christmas, celebrated their way. They loved giving us kids special gifts, but the “gifts” they opened from each other were likely to be socks for the coming year, wrapped just to have something to open on Christmas day.

After decades of married life, they began saving the favorite greeting cards they had given each other, and, when another year had passed, choosing a card from that small collection to give again. I still remember the two of them exchanging these Christmas cards with a hug and kiss, savoring the moment and the familiar verses. They knew how to celebrate life, and they knew how to cherish one another.

In those golden years of their marriage, they could have purchased most anything they wanted, if they had wanted material things. They didn’t reuse greeting cards because of environmental concerns: such a notion was outside their realm of awareness in those days. They didn’t do it because thrift was a habit they could not escape, as a form of deprivation or sacrifice. They chose to do it out of joy, out of understanding what really matters in life.

This Christmas Greengranny wishes each of you, my readers, the wisdom of my mom and dad in living life and loving well.