Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, what a story you tell.
Tall and green, glowing glory, crowned atop with an angel.
Decked with ornaments, current and past.
Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, what a story you tell.
One year I went out and bought giant department store style ornaments, ribbons and other trim that all matched. I decorated the tree in the most beautiful and perfect way. Seriously, it looked like it belonged in a magazine. I always wanted a matchy, matchy perfect Christmas tree. It was a far cry from my first Christmas tree that I ever had on my own. I was a young single mom, 20 years old with a 4 month old baby. I couldn’t afford anything. So I crocheted all my ornaments and strung popcorn and cranberries and topped the tree with a handmade paper angel. You can imagine how good it felt to have the perfect idealistic tree, I’d come so far.
There was only one problem, my family hated it!!!!! It was beautiful but it wasn’t perfect. It had no story to tell. Where were the ornaments we made? The ornaments we got growing up? The faces of our loved ones?
That year I undecorated my beautiful but not perfect tree, put it all back in their packages and returned it to the store. Then the family and I decorated our tree with our story.
Ornaments that spoke of our careers.
Places of travel
Of where we’re from
Of hobbies and passions
Of Santa Claus
Of birds…why do we have so many birds?
Of little jokes that have turned into a new tradition.
Of specially handcrafted and selected gifts
Ornaments that remind us of what the holiday is really about
I no longer desire a matchy, matchy perfectly decked out Christmas tree. I have the most perfect tree of all, the tree that tells our story.
Merry Christmas, to you and your family and your own story telling tree.
AW!! I really love this, that your family made you realize there’s more to it than just how pretty it is. So glad your tree tells such a wonderful story. <3
Rhonda, thank you. Life really is ALL about the stories, which weave our thoughts, our memories, our hopes and dreams and our heartfelt desires.
This year, I let my three kids decorate the tree. It was…like a tree decorated by under-10s but I left most (not all) of the ornaments where they placed them.
I hope you have a truly wonderful one. Eat loads and be happy. Stay well X X X
I bet your tree was delightful even though it was heavily decorated on the bottom. It’s really about the joy and the not the finished product.
I too made a “matchy-matchy” tree when we were first married. Today I am staring at our small juniper that we purchased (to plant later outside) with the few ornaments the nephews, goddaughter and godson made when they were here. Yes, it looks like a Charlie Brown tree, but I love it. (BTW, we had those glass birds on our tree at home growing up and we called them “no-no” birds for obvious reasons.!)
Your tree is beautiful!. Hope you had a great holiday!
A tree you can plant, give back t Mother Earth, is there a better tree? No-no birds…love it, and yes I ‘no’ why they were called that.