As I put the Christmas tree up last night, I couldn’t help remembering the first time I put this tree together. It was 1990. Twenty years had gone by so fast.
1990 – was a tumultuous year. It started with a phone call that brought the news of my grandfather’s death. A few months later, I ventured out on my own, with my 16-year old daughter, leaving my husband of 20+ years. My oldest daughter joined the Air Force just as the tension in the Gulf heightened and our armed forces were preparing for Dessert Storm.
From all appearances it seemed that Christmas would be stark in comparison to previous ones. We didn’t even have a tree! But that Thanksgiving, my sister gave me hers, saying they were getting a new one and there were a few good years left on her old one. My boss knew about the tree with no ornaments and gave me two beautiful, glass-blown ones. Even though I hardly knew Tom, he appeared at my door a few nights before Christmas with a metal case. In it were some blue and yellow thread-covered ornaments and a few other items for the tree, including a skirt that his daughter made many years ago. “I don’t use these; keep them until you get something better.”
This year’s beginning had a similar feel to the one 20 years ago with Tom’s passing in January. Yet, the other night when I put up the tree with a few years left for the 20th time, there was a comforting feeling. There are only a handful of those blue and yellow ornaments left; I still have both glass-blown ornaments.
Over the years, new ornaments have 
appeared. Today the tree wears ornaments of various horses that had been declared our “Horse of the Year.” My son found and gave me the “pickle” ornament that I hide each year for a grandkid to find. Handmade ornaments that were gifts from friends and my “Computer Santa” ornament that I received from a former student.
As I watch the lights blink off and on, I realize that the tree has begun to glow with the most treasured memories of my life.
