The Christmas Tree

During some downtime this weekend I thumbed through the Christmas edition of some home magazines.  Each one was filled with images of lovely themed trees: all gold trees, poinsettia-only trees,  trees of ribbons, trees of pieces of nature brought indoors.  I thought about these carefully planned and executed themed trees as I sat on the couch admiring the tree we had just adorned.  Is there rhyme or reason to our tree?

I have spent my entire adult life working with children.  So, the tree is covered with ornaments children have gifted me with because they found them lovely.

Later we became parents and our own children made special ornaments which capture stages of their growth.

Through it all we have been blessed with friends who have honored us with gifts fashioned with their own hands.

The result is somewhat messy, like life itself.  It is a reflection of people we have loved and who have loved us back.  It is a culmination of the years.  As I look at our tree covered in a mishmash of ornaments– some simple construction paper, some gaudy glitz– I am content.  I would like to think the theme of this particular Christmas tree is life well lived.