It’s funny how each year our Christmas trees reflected that particular time in our lives.

Way back when our kids were all living under our roof, they would call our Christmas tree the “chubba blubba” tree because Dad always somehow brought home the fattest tree he could find. To add to the comedy, we always made sure that every single branch of our cherished chubba blubber was adequately adorned with its fair share of trinkets from our motley collection we had somehow amassed over the years.  These trees did reflect who we were – we were chaotic, we were spontaneous, we were impulsive.

And each year, we loved our chaotic, spontaneous, impulsive tree!

After the kids left home, as our home life settled down, so did our trees. They became more “demure”, definitely more sedate, reserved…quieter; sometimes, even, they were themed – Victorian or Folk, one year it was French country. No longer hodge-podged.

And still, we loved those demure, sedated trees.

It’s a very different Christmas this year. And…it’s a very different Christmas tree this year.  But, again, our tree clearly defines the spirit of our home, our life. This year maybe more than ever before.

This year, we’ve adorned our tiny tree, not with the usual shimmering ornaments, but rather with photos…pictures of our most precious gifts – our four children, their spouses, and each of our grandchildren and each other – Bob and me. Maggie, our beloved sheepadoodle, has a spot on our tree, too. This year, this crazy, disturbing, distressing year, we weren’t motivated to decorate our home and our tree as in past Christmases. This year, missing a huge part of our lives, we have been reminded of what is most important, most critical to our well-being. And it is with these precious gifts that we decorated our 2020 tree.

And we surely love this very special tree!

Postscript:

I’m so thankful to you for minding all our collective lives with me this year.  It’s been a journey that, in any other year, may have ended a lot sooner. But in this year, this blog has been a kind of therapy for me and I’m so grateful to all of you who have let me know that it has served some small purpose in your lives also.

Thank you for letting me share this space with you and for sharing a bit of yourselves with me.

Let us all join in prayer that in  the coming year we may return to the lives we have come to love – filled with all the peace and joy we’ve been missing. To those of you who have lost a loved one this year, know we grieve with you and wish you comfort and strength.

Merry Christmas and a blessed and happy New Year to all!