The tree was bought with the proceeds of a story I wrote about my father's struggle and death at the hands of Alzheimer's Disease. He was only 62.
Very little is known about early onset Alzheimer's and I decided that I had the skills to tell the story no matter how painful it was. I also decided that the cheque that followed needed to go to something special.
I wanted to buy something that would be with my family for a long time. I wanted something joyous but I would not normally be able to justify buying. But most of all I wanted something that would always remind me of the happy times with my Dad.
For some families Christmas seems to be a battle ground and a magnet for the worst possible behaviour. Our Christmas were never like that. Our Christmases are never like that and the tree is a symbol of that.
The rule is that the tree goes up on December 1 and comes down on January 1 (that's a little bit more flexible depending on how big New Year's Eve is).
So it was that the tree went up last night and today the kids across the road came and had a look. Checking it out are Eliana, Mitchell and Kirralee who were heading off home to put up their own tree.
So, once again, Merry Christmas.
It is indeed starting to look a lot like Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely blog Susan and a very special tree indeed.
What a very special and lovely tree x
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