Some Things Matter

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That husband of mine said…

We should just get a smaller Christmas tree, this one takes up so much space…

Expected the words…Little Tree always gets threatened with the chopping block when packing for Texas…

And Little Tree is little but awkward…four feet of base and branches wrapped in a garbage bag isn’t exactly stackable…

So this year packing me took the lights off…separated it into thirds…wrapped the pieces tightly with tape and set them snugly in a tote…a small stackable tote…

And it worked fine…until unpacking time…needles falling off in droves…branches breaking from the base…the lights…no longer lighting…

But made it work one more year…a new set of lights…branches hanging tenuously…needles fluttering down with the lightest of breeze…

But this old gal…loves it…because to her…Little Tree matters…

The vintage ornaments on it from her childhood…matter…the simple beauty of the lights…matter…the connection it makes her feel with those daughters of hers…matters…

How long have you had that tree…laughed that husband of mine watching the melee from the couch…

Oh…came the reply…like from the early 90’s so probably 30 years or so…and with that, after a pause, one of us heard herself say those words she thought she never would say…

Maybe we should get a new tree next year…the same size tho…but one that folds up and can be stored in a box…
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And that husband of mine…agreed…