One irony- the day before the tree gave up the ghost I had really struggled with the fact that Christmas was ending. I obsessively played Christmas music playlist on my ipod. I said I didn't want us to stop listening until we had heard everyone of the 317 Christmas songs on the playlist one more time. Sometime after midnight I finally gave up.
It was hard to let Christmas go this year. We had a wonderful time. The week before the holiday was filled with family activities, and Brandon was home from college! In particular, on Christmas Eve and Day I felt like our family was ensconced in a bubble of happiness and contentment, as we laughed, played, and showed gratitude and love. It was poignant that this was Brandon's last Christmas at home before leaving on a mission.
So, I didn't want to move beyond the serenity and warm feelings of Christmas. But, the tree mess pushed us into action. Time to move on, time to embrace the new year.
One more note . . . the falling tree did not break any ornaments (amazingly), but did spill water onto our special Christmas books. For many years I have collected Christmas books, and about 15 years ago we started spreading them around the tree. This facilitated one of our favorite traditions, reading a Christmas book each day by the tree. We have so many books now that they more than fill the circumference of the tree. Well, after several of our special books were water-logged, it is time for a new tradition in the Porter home. Next year, baskets with the books NEAR but not under the tree!
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| A few of the damaged books |
2 comments:
I'm sorry that your books were damaged. Next year... a sturdier tree?
I know how you are feeling about Christmas. I've been avoiding taking down our fake tree, it's still up and I think I've added ornaments since Christmas. My goal this week is to get it down and pack it away. I felt sad when the radio stations quit playing music and my lights came off the house.
Our tree fell over too, thanks to our little destroyer, Ashton. He was stuck underneath the live 8 footer. I'm sorry about the books. So glad you had a great time with your family! We miss you guys!
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