Merry Christmas! I am sending you some Christmas Greetings from the heart of our home to your’s. I was sitting at a neighbor’s table this Thanksgiving and we were discussing Christmas memories. A seasoned pastor’s wife told the following story. “We were at the start of our ministry and had nothing. With three small children, I didn’t know how I was going to come up with a Christmas tree. While they are taking their naps, I went outside and looked around and found a small cedar tree in the corner of the lot. I took it into the house after shaking off the brown needles and bugs. Now how was I going to stand this Charlie Brown tree upright? I got a bucket and filled it with dirt and I was amazed that the tree stood up! I watered that dirt daily to keep the tree green.”
“I turned the best side to the front, since every tree has at least one good side,” she continued. “What to do for decorations? I found some ribbon and had just enough to tie bows to the front of the tree. I still remember the joy and excitement of my babies when they woke up and saw that tree. “Mommy, it is so beautiful!” “ A real Christmas tree!” Even my husband, when he came home (after reminding me that a cedar was not really a Christmas tree) was astonished at how nice it looked. When my mother-in-law dropped by, she was impressed with my efforts and came back with lights. That Sunday, word of my Charlie Brown Special had reached our congregation and many of the ladies donated Christmas ornaments for our tree. The children still talk about that wonderful tree. I remember the love and warmth of the kindness of others. It is still one of my favorite Christmas memories.”
I, on the other hand, never knew any other kind of tree but a cedar that my dad and older brother would go out to cut from the pasture fence-line. My mother would have all seven of us stringing popcorn and making construction paper chains to go with the antique tin ornaments that hung on the tree. The one extravagant was the bubble lights. I loved plugging in the tree and waiting for the bubble lights to warm up enough to start percolating away. The bare linoleum floor was cold but our hearts were warmed by the glow of that raggedly looking tree. My mother would allow us to help bake cookies. We poked cut-off burnt wooden matches into those cookies to set the hole so that we could frost them and hang some on that tree. The final touch was the metal silver tinsel that we loved to throw upon the tree, flinging it as high as we could. My sister, Ellen, always wanted to put it on one strand at a time so that it would look better but after a while she was flinging too!
The final event of the Christmas tree decoration day was setting up the Nativity set under the tree on top of the old quilt that served as a tree skirt. When we each placed our shepherd or donkey, we would gather to sing “Silent Night”.
I still love bubble lights even if you no longer have to wait for them to warm up. I miss the cedar tree and tinsel as I now use a fake tree and save the real tree to come in just before Christmas. In years past, we have planted our Christmas trees as a lasting memory of our family. May this Christmas be very merry and bright! Remember to be kind to those who deserve it the least. Be blessed, dear readers! Merry Christmas! Anne May
