I thought this might be the second year that I would not put up a Christmas tree. Last year we were in the middle of packing to move a few days after the new year. It made no sense to try to decorate for Christmas. So, for the first time ever, we did not have a Christmas tree in our home. That was hard, after some years of having five trees. This year, I was just tired, and not in the mood. Also, putting up a tree this year was more complicated than usual. There were several reasons for this.

With Mike’s recent shoulder surgery, he would not be able to help. Actually, my Christmas tree helper for years has been our friend MoMo, who also recently had shoulder surgery, and would not be able to help. We have always had a live tree, and I would not be able to manage it by myself. Also, I wasn’t sure where all of the Christmas decorations were since we moved. I knew some were in storage in our new home and some were in our storage shed. I dreaded going through both areas. I knew I needed to cull some of the decorations, yet I dreaded even beginning that process.  

Another reason I considered not putting up a tree was that we would be gone all but 10 days of December, so it seemed foolish to go to all of the trouble for only ten days. Then I remembered that many other years, even when we had more than one tree, we were gone as much as we will be this year. I was concerned, however, about leaving a live tree up when we would not be home to care for it. But again, this was the same situation in previous years.

I considered a small tabletop tree yet discounted that as a not very attractive choice. How would I decide which few ornaments to use? Also, I didn’t have a good location for a tabletop tree.

I had not decided what to do about this Christmas tree dilemma when I went into the Habitat for Humanity store in Southport last weekend and saw the perfect (not live) tree. I have always resisted an artificial tree. But if I was going to have a tree this year, it would need to be an artificial one, since I had no one to help me with a live tree. This tree was beautiful, and just reached out and grabbed me! It is now up and fully decorated, and I love it! I have been told by many people that once I have an artificial tree, I will never go back to a live tree, and I can see why that is.

I only hesitated for a few minutes about whether to get rid of the tree stands and lights that I will not need this year and may not ever need them again. I know that if I ever need those, I can buy new ones. So, I cleaned those out of the closest, took them to Habitat, and enjoyed knowing that someone else who needed them would have them.

Of course, the artificial tree does not smell like a fresh live tree. But there is a spray for that, which can easily be used if the lack of fresh tree smell bothers me. But I doubt that I will even think of that in the few days that the tree and I are together!

Our other Christmas decorations are minimal, since we do not have the space that we had previously. I have begun to part with some of our decorations, since I do not foresee ever being able to use all of them again. Our memories and our photos will keep our previous Christmas holidays close to our hearts.

I have often spoken about and written about Change. Speaking about Change and writing about it is easier than living it. But living it is more authentic. Even when comparing live and artificial Christmas trees.