Of Christmas Trees and Moldy Cheese
Because of all of the commercial interests in Christmas, it is a perfect time for one to get a bit of clarity and perspective about the holidays. The one who got the lesson, again, was yours truly. We won a Christmas tree at a community event called “Festival of Trees.” We spent five bucks and came away with an eclectic sort of tree that contained ornaments from all of the other thirty trees. There was a chess piece from the Twilight Tree and a pink Cadillac from the Elvis Tree. Curious George, the monkey, made a contribution as well. It was delivered, lighted and looked pretty good. The 2 foot Curious George at the top was a bit over the top and the little primate creeped me out so we took him off. My grandson will love him.
The perspective started when I realized that for the first time ever, I had no intention of decorating for Christmas. Annie and I refused to participate in this event due partly to the fact that this was to be our first year without any kids living at home (empty nest stuff). Also, we plan on traveling for the holidays so what’s the big whoop? I did stick two wreaths out front. Now to the NFL Channel!
We had our ornament exchange party and I have to admit that the tree stole the show. Our problem was how to get rid of the thing. Sure it had some cool stuff on it, but more really is less when you’re retired. One of the ladies in our Divorce Recovery Group brought her cousin. This woman has lupus and needs treatments to keep going. She is in the middle of her own divorce and has two daughters at home (ages 6 & 9). We found out that this woman needed a tree, but had very little money. One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. I thought it would be a convenient way to rid the living room of this thing and at the same time, some kids would be happy. To be honest the idea of clearing out the green thing took a front seat to bringing joy to a family that didn’t have much. See the perspective train coming? I didn’t.
Because we were to be traveling, we ate down our groceries. We went to a Christmas party tonight and Annie used ingredients in the fridge to make a yummy casserole to take. I can’t believe I just wrote “yummy.” It was fun, but the real problem happened yesterday. Annie wanted to get rid of some eggs and bacon and cheese so she decided to make a quiche. I know, I know, real men don’t eat quiche, but it’s real yum…tasty. She got upset because the cheese was moldy. She had to go to the store.
Two days before we had loaded up the tree and placed it in the needy family’s house. The cousin had the key so we were stealth. Annie made them all stockings as well with toys, candy, games and perfume(for momma). We left it and pretty much forgot it. I had my living room back and there were 2 games on I wanted to watch.
Annie said that when the lady from our group, who works at the local supermarket, saw her she cried tears of joy. Her cousin was so moved by “our act of love” that she wept on her cousin’s shoulder, thanking us for “making her Christmas.” We didn’t get a call because they assumed that we had left town already. The children were overjoyed with what they found when they came home from school that day. To me, it was just something taking up space, but to them it was the true meaning of the season. And all of their blessing came back to us because of an extra trip to the store caused by moldy cheese. I really don’t think the cheese molded by coincidence, do you?
The real message comes in the simplistic. Open your eyes. Five dollars may not be much to you, but it is another one of those ceiling/floor things. The blessings are there if we care to look…even in a block of moldy cheese.