http://www.episcopalhomes.org

Here's a simple question: Does someone come into your house and decorate it for the holidays? With the business of the season we may sometimes wish someone would, but for most of us, pulling the decorations out of the attic or basement and out of their rubber tubs and tissue paper is the start of holiday traditions. There are heirlooms, things the kids made, some gaudy knick-knack that we've become attached to and some novelty song-playing piece that makes us laugh and makes someone in the family roll their eyes. Let's not forget the special plate for Christmas cookies. There's frustration with the strings of lights, hot cocoa and hot toddies, Christmas songs on the radio, and most importantly, time with our family.

Why should elders in nursing homes miss out on all that? Traditional nursing home Christmas decorations often include one big tree put up by volunteers and something like a wall of construction paper stockings with residents' names on them like you would see in a grammar school. But, it's been a joy to see the decorations in recently visited households, chosen and put up by residents and staff. At Episcopal Church Home in St Paul, MN, staff took interested residents down to the basement to retrieve decorations. Many households ask for donations of decorations or go on an outing to thrift stores to find holiday treasures. Each house is decorated differently, and residents give direction about what should go where and oversee their favorite pieces. As with most things, it is actually the experience around the decorations that is as important, if not more so, than the decorations themselves.