Our Christmas tree isnt the fanciest I have ever seen. I have seen trees that spin, play songs, and hang upside down. Our tree is crooked. It is too narrow. The boughs are sparse and cheaply made.
Our Christmas tree isnt the prettiest I have ever seen. I have seen trees festooned with glorious, sparkling ornaments and lights that twinkle so perfectly that it all but takes your breath away. Our tree is quite empty. There are pockets of space in the front and the back has few, if any, ornaments.
Our Christmas tree isnt the tallest I have ever seen. I have seen trees so tall they seem a never-ending fountain of light, percolating dreams and wishes. Our tree is short. At just under 6 feet, I can just stretch high enough to put on the star. The star is too heavy for our cheap, little tree so it frequently topples over and I use physics to keep from toppling to the ground.
No, our tree isnt the fanciest, or prettiest, or tallest I have ever seen. Our tree is crooked, narrow, cheap, bare, and short. Our tree is a really bad blind date.
Until you get to know him.
You see, something happens to our tree after the first couple of ornaments. He begins to speak and suddenly takes on a beautiful glow. He grabs me and tells me a story and after it is over, I cant help but love him. Im a sucker for a good tale, and he gets me every year.
Our tree recounts the history of two people who, while dating, loved to visit museums. Their first date, in fact, was at LACMA.
She is creative, flighty, and thinks elephants are brilliant.
He is quiet, analytical, and a man of science.
She loves books.
He loves to play golf.
They live in California.
A couple of years go by, and they decide to get married.
They celebrate their first Christmas.
She is getting ready for law school and he is straightening his tie for work when the first plane crashes into the World Trade Center.
They have one son.
Then, another.
Here the story stops, because thats as far as theyve gone. Dont you want to hear more? I do.
Each delicate, glass ornament captures a moment in our life. Not every moment is represented in our little tree but, hey, these ornaments dont come cheap. We have time to add them as we can, so the Mr. reminds me.
Its funny. Of all the ornaments we own, only one did I purchase on a whim. Every other ornament, including those we received as gifts, have a special memory behind it. As Mikey handed me the ornaments, this no memory ornament slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground with a crash. The irony did not escape me. Or, at least it didnt escape me an hour later after I had cooled down. Its as if the little ornament couldnt handle the guilt of its own insincerity.
Our tree isnt perfect and doesnt look exactly how I wish it would, but thats ok. I imagine one day it will be fancy, pretty, tall and perfect. When that happens well know we lived a long and full life and our ornaments will soon find new homes sprinkled among the crooked, narrow, cheap, bare, and short trees of our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Provided we dont drop any more.
This year is our best ever as far as tree decorating…I hardly did any the kids did it all. But each ornament that is sentimental each child asked about….a tree of memories…too bad we couldn’t keep the spirit of Christmas up all year round.
Beautiful post by the way
Yes, it’s too bad we don’t have that spirit the whole year. Before I started putting up the tree I was in such a bad mood! I really hate this tree–it’s so thin and lopsided! It’s amazing what a few family memories can do to change your perspective.
Your tree is beautiful. I love all the beautiful sentimental ornaments. As we were decorating the tree yesterday we went through all of our – all of our special memories. I need to find one fit for an angel this year. I love your new blog!!! Thanks for distracting me.
Oh this made me cry … how I long to spend an enternity with my loved ones. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas!
Yes, Kristen. You do need to find a very special ornament. Two, as a matter of fact. I am so happy you found me here. Please come back often! Other people’s crazy is always much more fun than your own. ;)
Merry Christmas, Kendra! I’m glad you liked the entry. :)
What an inspiring post to make us think of the positives…and those positives are not the abundance of material things (big fancy trees) but of the memories built as a family…btw, your tree lacks nothing from what I can see! It has such a beautiful glow!!! It has more than any Martha Stewart tree could ever have…because it’s yours!!!
Thanks, Cara!
And thanks to everyone who has commented on my tree. I will be honest–it looks much better at night than during the day. Trust me. During the day you can see through the tree and into the backyard. Easily. There’s a reason I took my pictures at night!
A beautiful story…made me think about the ornaments we have and what they mean to us.
Thanks, Carey! Putting up that tree left me feeling warm and fuzzy. :)
Beautiful! Your writing always makes me smile.
Jules – Your entry moved me to tears, so beautiful and eloquent – as usual.
Very touching, I always enjoy perusing through our ornaments at this time of year and thinking about the history and meaning of each one.
K-
I finally got a chance to read your blog! Thanks for including me in your blog. You are sooo talented. I loved this post so much. Paul and I just bought our “1st Christmas as a Married Couple” ornament. xxoo
Mrs. F.–high praise, indeed, coming from someone getting her master’s in comparative literature!
Kara–thank you! I can’t wait to see your tree this year.
Erika–Thanks for stopping by! I can’t wait to see your new ornament. :-)
What a lovely tree Jules! I love the story you have behind all your ornaments. Now that the kids are old enough we’ve started a tradition where they each get to pick one ornament for the tree.
The ornament that I don’t have, because it broke, is the one we got for our first Christmas together as newlyweds… wah! Fortunately the fate of the ornament has not reflective of anything else! ;)
What a nice tradition, Patricia! As sad as I was to see Kermi go, I have to say I would be devastated if it were one of the sentimental ornaments–even though it is, technically, just an ornament and not indicative of anything else! :)
My mom collected (roughly) annual ornaments from her first Christmas with my dad (1944). Some of the ornaments have paper tops because of the metal shortage during the war. Some of them were so plain and ugly she told me she had to paint stars on them before she could bear them. Of course those came to be the ones she loved the most. She had an 8′ tree completely covered with lights, ornaments and tinsel. It takes hours to re-create her tree and hours to take it down and as long as I can totter up a ladder without falling into the tree, I expect I will carry on her Christmas tradition, though I usually cry a lot when doing it. She’s been gone now for 22 years and I still miss her.