She hankers for it as thoroughly as any kid hankers for presents on Christmas morning.
She yearns for it as completely as we yearn for her poppy-seed cake, madeleines, and chocolate-chip cookies this time of year.
To Mrs. P, Christmas is not Christmas without a tree.
She wants to satisfy her tree-lust as soon as possible, and she wants to keep filling that hunger as long as possible, keeping the tree up well after Three Kings’ Day if that year’s version cooperates by staying fresh.
And she is absolutely right—because the green tree brings growth and aliveness into the dead of winter.
She is right because the aromatic tree carries fresh pine or fir or spruce freshness into the house, linking us to the outside world at a time when we feel shut in.
She is right because the tree decorated with lights brings color and brightness into the room, even in the dark of a late December night.
She is right because the tree embodies our lives—our disparate beginnings begun so long ago and so far apart, our long and loving journey together, and the two blessings who have helped make that journey a delight.
We decorate the tree with an assortment of bulbs, figurines, and objects collected over the years,
some from my childhood
and some that
had been her Folks’. 
We have handmade decorations,
some of which show the crude hands of young children
and others of which reveal the patient and attentive love of a mother.
Courtesy of an aunt who knows the importance of family, we have reminders of our childhoods.
Thanks to a niece who understands the magic of the tree, we hang ornaments from an exotic land.
We have ornaments recently acquired, elegant and glittery,
and simpler ones that proclaim the message underlying the day.
As a child, I was always interested in what I might find in the multi-colored packages under the green tree, thinking of what fun they promised for the future.
Now I love the multi-colored memories that adorn the green tree, mindful of how they speak of a treasured past and a loving present.
Words and pictures © 2009 AtHome Pilgrim.
All Rights Reserved.
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Comments
Lovely.
Happy Holidays, Pilgrim!
R~
One Christmas my daughter who could not be near asked to borrow the ornament box for her tree so that she could feel like she was home. Much like in your description of your wife, I loved putting THOSE collected ornaments on my tree. That Christmas, however, it seemed fitting to honor the request, and I sent them to my daughter. They never returned. Somehow, after Christmas, the box was inadvertently set in the outgoing trash pile. Reading your post brought the treasured contents and the sentiment back to mind. Thank you.
I love that leaf ornament, btw. It is so elegant in its simplicity.
Happy Holidays to you and yours, AHP. Many thanks for sharing your marvelous work here.
You got here right away, Cat! You must be lurking on the front page. Thanks for the inspiration you've given all of us--it was a purrrrrrfect idea.
Thanks for stopping in, Smithery. Glad you liked.
Thanks, spotted: no monochromatic decorations for us, and not everything fancy. Each piece, even the kids' crude little stockings, represents our lives.
Neat that your sister has maintained the tradition, scanner--and that you still get to enjoy it!
Oh, scupper, that's so sad. It's good, though, that your daughter cared enough to want them, you know? I'm sure that she, like you, can still see them in her mind.
Glad you at least got to enjoy a virtual tree, Tor!
Gracias, Owl! Have a great holiday, OK?
Thanks for opening it, CK.
Yeah, we really like that one too, Bill: we have another, visible in the first of the four childhood ornament pictures. For several years, we got a new ornament each year, to add our own touches to the heirlooms. Those were two we picked up one year.
Lovely! Green is my favorite color.
You know, we had it in the house for half an hour, and everything smelled better, Sharon. Enjoy your green. (I'm usually a blue guy, myself, but green is good for Christmas.)
Thanks for coming along for the tour, Karin.
I have to admit, susan, my memory isn't so good any more that I can recall the history of each. . . . But I'm pretty sure they're all ours.
I hope those flashbacks are fond ones, COS!
Yes, Auntie: it's good to have that sense of continuity.
Thank you, Lady D!
R
Merry Christmas, Pilgrim, Mrs. Pilgrim and the younger Pilgrims!
Pleased that you could feel some glow, Pandora. You might try a glass of wine to keep it going. ;)
I have that problem sometimes too, john. Maybe that's why Mrs. P did the tree this year. Hmmmmmm.
Thanks, Harvey!
I hope they join you this year not dutifully but happily, rita. Merry Christmas to you!
And to you, Shiral!
Ah, but one of those ornaments, OM, is the ugliest one we have! And it ain't Mrs. P.
Weigh that tree down, Auntie! It can take it!
Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year, dear Pilgrim.
Kisses,
Marcela
Oh, she's got it, Polly. She gets that look in her eyes . . . Merry Christmas to you!
Glad the scent came through, Cindy! Merry Christmas!