Once upon a time…I
begin this way as all truly great stories begin “Once upon a time”…
Once upon a time
there was a little spout of a tree. It was planted in a straight row
with hundreds of other trees. No matter which direction he looked in,
there we other trees in other straight rows. But the other trees were
quite a long way from him and difficult to talk to because of this
expanse. As a result, the tree would while away his days listening to
the wind and feeling the elements and generally enjoying his life. Many
years passed in this pleasant occupation.
As the tree grew, he
found that it was less and less difficult to communicate with the other
trees. Perhaps it was because his voice grew deeper and stronger as he
grew larger and taller. Perhaps it was because he grew closer and
closer to the other trees as he grew more substantial. It was hard to
say.
All of the trees
knew that they were being grown as Christmas trees. They would often
talk about how they were planted to be harvested one day to brighten the
Christmas season of many children and adults.
Some trees much
further away would laugh and call them foolish. These were not
Christmas trees. They said that the trees would have shorter lives and
could never wish to achieve what they, as yard planters, would
accomplish in their much longer lives. But none of the Christmas trees
were sad that one day they would be taken from their current home; they
were excited. This was their destiny. They knew from their planting
birth that they were special. Grown with care to be all that they could
be. To grow as tall and straight and strong as was possible. They also
knew that when the wonderful day arrived they would be ready to enjoy a
short season of giving immense pleasure and joy to their family and then
move on to once again become part of the earth.
After many years,
and many wonderful discussions with his friends, the other trees, along
came a group of men. They began chopping down the trees, bundling them
up, and putting them on a truck to take them to be sold. The trees were
all very excited. Some even dropped some of their needles in their
anticipation of the exciting season to come.
After a long ride on
the truck the one little tree was put into a lot in front of a party
store with hundreds of other trees, many of whom he knew from the
growing yard. Not long later, along came a family with two “little
people.” They looked at several trees and proclaimed that he was their
choice. They paid for the tree and strapped him to the top of their
car. He waved goodbye with the wind to his friends and wished them
well.
The tree listened to
the little boy’s merry chatter as the family’s little three year old
nearly burst with excitement to have chosen a tree. The boy was
terribly concerned that the tree would not stay on top of the truck and
watched it diligently through the sun roof exclaiming at the smallest
shift in the tree’s location.
When they arrived at
the family’s house the tree was set up to open up and stretched his
branches out for the first time since he had been growing in his
youthful yard. It felt splendid to unfold himself and within a day he
had rounded himself out, relaxed and was enjoying his new warm home.
When the family
arose the next morning they proclaimed him the most well shaped and
beautiful tree that they had ever had for Christmas. The tree also
learned that the other bundled child was a second little boy.
That weekend the
family put thousands of lights on the tree. He felt even more grand
when he was plugged in and all of the lights shone like stars in the
living room.
Next came garland
and ribbons and hundreds of purple and silver ornaments. He felt the
most alive he had ever felt. He underwent a transformation into an
elegant Christmas tree full of color and warmth. He could feel the joy
that the family experienced every time they looked at him. Even the
littlest child, a seventeen month old, he’d heard, stared up at him as
though he was the prettiest thing he had even seen. Indeed he probably
was.
Late on the second
day of his perfection, the littlest child rolled beneath him and froze.
He immediately began to shake. The tree tried to call out. He needed
desperately to tell the parents that something was wrong with their
babe. The mother noticed almost immediately and scooped the child up.
She lay him on a blanket and spoke softly to him; willing him to breath
and come back to her. Soon the baby breathed then slept. He was
exhausted from what he had been through. The mother called it a
seizure.
The other child was
scared and they talked about all that had happened. She reminded the
eldest son that Jamie was a special child and very sick. She told him
we must always watch over him carefully and help him when he needs help
and cannot call. The older child, Logan, agreed and resumed his play.
Later that night,
part of the trees lights blinked and stopped lighting. The father said
they had blown a fuse because there were too many lights on the
extension cords. He said that he would get a new fuse on his way home
the next day so the tree remained partially lit.
Over the next
several days the baby would lay and gaze up at the tree and the tree
would look loving down on him and tell Jamie how glad he was to be his
tree. Logan would add and remove ornaments daily adding to the
perfection of the tree. There were more happy moments and there were
more seizures. The father stopped after work looking for a fuse, but
did not find one so the tree stayed only partially lit.
The baby boy had a
cough and over the days it seemed to worsen. One day, just a week out
from Christmas, a nurse came to visit and sent the baby to see a
doctor. Neither the mother nor the baby returned for days. The father
and the older child were also rarely in the house. The tree began to
worry for the baby.
Days came and went,
when Christmas finally arrived the parents were home in the morning with
Logan, but the baby was nowhere to be seen. The tree heard the parents
speaking in lowered voices of how much they missed being with both of
their boys on Christmas. It seemed that the baby was still ill in the
hospital.
Christmas Day, the
mother once again disappeared and the boy and the father were rarely
seen. New Years came and went and still there was no family joy that
the tree had experienced so readily upon his arrival. The baby’s gifts
remained beneath the tree and while the mother was only intermittently
home, she said that she would not take down the tree until her child
could have “his Christmas” too.
People came and
offered to take down the tree for the family, but they always refused
saying that they wanted to open gifts with Jamie under the tree. The
tree held onto his needles as best he could and remained tall and
beautiful willing the baby well and home.
One late night over
a month after the baby had gone away, he came home. Lots of machines
came with him. The baby no longer played under the tree as he had, but
he lay beneath it looking at its beauty and seeming to be happy. The
tree made its best effort to pull itself together and look spectacular
for the child. The child was grateful.
The tree heard the
parents talking with Logan about Jamie. They told him that Jamie was
very sick and would not be getting better. The tree was very sad.
The baby looked up
at the tree and told him to be happy. The child said that he had known,
just as the tree had known that his was not to be a long life by others
standards. It was not how many years that mattered, but the joy that
they brought to the family that wanted them. They had shone brightly
for their time. They had taught many lessons. They had struggled to
hold on and ultimately they had lost that battle too.
Some may think that
they were somehow worth less because they were not as long lived. But
all who really saw them for who they were, knew that although they had
been special since their planting they were as they were meant to be and
had served their purpose on the earth. The tree and the baby now rejoin
the earth, but those that they leave behind are richer for their time
here. Their lights may have flickered, but they shone brightly, they
brought great joy and they taught incredible lessons. Those who opened
their hearts to this child know that he was not just special, he was
special.
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It’s not how
long we live
It’s how long
we affect others.
It’s not how
much time we have
It’s what we
choose to give.
It’s not how
big we get
It’s how many
hearts we help to grow.
It’s not how
long we stay
It’s the love
we leave when we go.
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