By ED REEVES
Two years ago my wife Alecia and I purchased a small live tree which was just the right size to accommodate our sparse selection of Christmas ornaments. On Christmas Eve as family members visited with us, we asked them to select an ornament and place it on our tree. I thought this would develop into our Christmas tradition but, it only lasted one year. The following year we had a little two foot artificial tree covered with a dozen or so Philadelphia Eagles ornaments.
hat was the Christmas of the year my mother fell and broke her hip. The next year the Eagles tree made the starting lineup again and was sufficient to meet our small expectations. My mother’s health had improved during the year but, at that Christmas season she began to fail and falter a bit. She passed away the following February. During those two Christmases Alecia and I continued to collect ornaments for our Christmas tree but, they remained unopened and unused.
This Christmas our celebration expectations were grander. We decided to purchase a nearly perfect shaped 7.5 foot Frasier fir. Within a few hours we had purchased and placed our fantastic fir into its space within our new home. Resting from our arduous but cheery undertaking we gazed upon its empty natural winsomeness delighting in its transforming power. With renewed eagerness we hauled the large box filled with our Christmas treasures down into our Christmas space.
One by one we unwrapped each ornament enjoying the memory each evoked. A very unique silver plated heart shaped ornament with Alecia’s initials handsomely engraved upon it caught my eye and I asked about it. She said her mother had given it to her one Christmas. Alecia’s mother had passed away the November after we were married in 2008. Alecia said if I open the ornament I would find a card inside that would explain the meaning of the heart shaped ornament.
Opening the latch opened the heart and inside I saw the words “The Giving Heart.” I read the story aloud which told of a craftsman who constructed a very ornate box for his wife one Christmas. The following Christmas she used the special box to hold the gift she had given him. Each Christmas thereafter the box would contain a new gift exchanged between the husband and his wife.
“The Giving Heart” ornament reminds me of the relationship between Alecia and her mother. Remembering their relationship reminds me of my relationship with my mother. Our mothers (and fathers) loved us the best they could in their imperfections and their maturing love, just like we now love our family members and one another. So in this transient life where Christmas traditions last only one year and where we are still works in progress learning to love and live, I thank God for the gift of His Son and some other gifts He has given me…the women in my life. Merry Christmas!
Reeves writes from Rio Grande
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