a tale of two trees.....

Growing up I remember my dad and I going to the different tree lots the first or second week of December. You didn't want to buy one too early because it would get dry. I remember the smell of the tree inside the house. The smell was strongest when Dad and I would cut and trim the tree in the garage. We'd get the sap all over our hands, but that was just part of it. Every year we'd say that it was the prettiest Christmas tree we'd ever had. When I moved to Nashville, I refused to have anything but a real Christmas tree for the first 3-4 years.

We put up two Christmas trees in our house now, and both are artificial. The one downstairs is a beautiful pre-lit tree. There a three sections to the tree, so assembly is simple. The bride picked out all the ornaments for it, and coordinated them nicely. Everything matches. Again, it's a beautiful tree. The one upstairs is about 10 years old. It's not pre-lit. I string the lights as I put each row of limbs on. Every year, another strand or two of lights goes out. More and more needles fall off each year. It's not like Charlie Brown's tree yet, but it's getting that way.

What I like about the upstairs tree the most are the memories associated with the ornaments. There are ornaments from different places we've visited - Hawaii, San Francisco, Kansas City, Myrtle Beach, etc. Some from when the bride was a baby, with pictures of her in front of her parents' fireplace. We've made a few over the years with ginger bread. The big orange T is one my favorites. Several ornaments were made at church or at school when the girls were both younger. Many have pictures of the girls when they were small. It makes me want to travel back in time and hold them at that age again. Around the tree skirt sits a Marx train set that my dad got for Christmas 52 years ago. My grandmother cleaned out her attic about 10 years ago and gave it to me. It doesn't run, but the locomotive and cars look so cool. I can just see my dad at 10 years of age playing with his new train set on Christmas morning.

Everyone has childhood memories from Christmas. Maybe they weren't always pleasant, but I'm sure there were a few that were for everyone. As my daughters grow up, I want their Christmas memories to be pleasant. Sure, I'd like for them to have as much "stuff" as possible under the tree, but I hope that I work more towards building memories for them......