This Year's Christmas Tree

For 36 years it's been a Christmas tradition for Deborah and me that the only gift we give each other is a Christmas tree. As we decorate our tree with memories it never fails to give our hearts a lift… The Christmas tree we buy and decorate each year is the perfect Christmas gift. This year we bought a little smaller tree…Oh…it's still the perfect gift but the older we get we find the bigger trees gets a little harder to lift. Once we brought her in, and placed her in the bucket on the floor we found this year's tree could not hold as many memories as other trees before. And for some reason this years tree…although still beautiful and bright from the moment we started decorating her was losing needles left and right. But there she stands in the corner…just like ever other Christmas tree holding up our memories as bright and proud as she can be The other day I realized this year's Christmas tree is a lot like me… Like her I seem to be a little shorter than the me I used to be. Like her I don't hold as many memories… my mind has lost some of my earlier scenes… And I've been losing needles since I was in my teens. Which is why I have to smile every time I see this year's tree… in the corner…standing there…. because I know with this tree…this Christmas…there's so much that we share. I know I say this every year…by now you must think I'm going mad… but I believe this year's Christmas tree…is the best tree we've ever had.