Happy New Year!!!
January 1st, 2010
One evening last week, I walked to a neighbor’s home for dinner – this is a longtime friend who had invited me for a homecooked meal – it was a lovely evening, which included enlightening conversation and plenty of laughter – good ole belly laughs! On top of their grand piano was a rather small Christmas tree – it was pretty – don’t get me wrong – it just wasn’t what I expected – I expected the usual tall tree. After quite a while, I actually asked if that was their tree, or if they had already put up their (real) tree. They explained that since they’re ‘empty nesters’, this is their tree. They further explained that it’s decorated (only) with their most favorite ornaments, many of which their (adult) children made when they were small children. There were some beautiful heirloom ornaments, which were breakable – you getting the picture?! I’ve thought of that special little tree several times since that night. I’ve wondered – in a way – if it’s more special than mine. Mine is a seven & a half footer – you know the one… All my favorite ornaments are on the tree, many of which were homemade by my (adult) children when they were, but small children. It includes some breakable heirlooms – probably a lot like yours… But on my friend’s tree, every ornament on there is very special; whereas, on my tree, my special ornaments are mixed in with a lot of other (pretty) ornaments. My friend’s are like showcased; whereas, mine are like hidden in a way. But my tree is literally head & shoulders above their’s. Come to think of it, their’s is about seven & a half feet tall (including the height of the piano). Hmm… But my tree looks real (even though it’s not). ‘Course, their tree really is real – they cut it themselves – then they stripped it of its leaves and painted it a shimmering silvery/gold – it really is beautiful – it’s just different – it did not meet my expectations, but then… it may have actually exceeded my expectations – that is… when I open my mind (to something non-traditional). I suppose it’s possible for something to exceed your expectations without even meeting your expectations – that is… if your mind is open (hint hint)!! I’ve been thinking… is it about the ornaments, or is it really about the tree? When you look at mine, I guess you notice the tree first – you’d have to walk closer and kinda zoom in to focus on the ornaments. Theirs… you don’t – you just kind of immediately see it all, and I hafta admit… it did indeed feel special. Mine may look more special, but theirs felt more special. I’m thinking that means theirs is more special. I don’t know… maybe mine’s more beautiful, but theirs somehow felt more special. It certainly made an impression on me. Okay… my point to all this is; I believe the tree represents our life & the ornaments represent our life-experiences. So… how does an ornament get to be special rather than just another pretty ornament? Perhaps it’s when (and if) it touches you deeply:) I’m not sure… But I do know this; when people look at me, I don’t want them to be impressed with how tall my (non-existent) pedestal is… I want them to feel deeply touched:) Do you kind of see what I’m trying to say?! It’s not about height – it’s not about beauty – it’s about life-experiences, especially the ones where we purposefully do for others, which is really what I’m about (in being a funeral director)! When people think of me, they’re surely not gonna say I’m tall, dark, and handsome – and that’s okay - I would much rather they feel that I’m someone special in their life - I’d like ‘em to say I gave of my life so that their experience with the death of a loved one was made a bit easier than it woulda been otherwise. I can live with that. In fact, I guess you could say I live FOR that!!! Yep, I think I know what to do now, and I’m predicting a Happy New Year:)
