December 3: Christmas Tree

I'm sitting in my living room after a really long day.  Yes, I'm still a little preoccupied with the events of the last few days, but, for the first time in a while, I'm finding a little peace of mind.  My daughter just got back from religion class a little while ago, and the living room smells like crescent hot dogs, which we had for dinner tonight.  On the TV is an episode of Extreme Home Makeover, my daughter's favorite show.

Things feel normal right now.  I'm almost able to forget the troubles of lost jobs and lost income.  The Christmas tree is on, and I don't have to be back at the office for another nine hours.  I'm tired, ready to climb under the covers and go to sleep.  The last week or so, we haven't been using a nightlight.  We've been leaving on the Christmas tree instead.  So when the alarm goes off at 4 a.m., I wake up to this:

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

For some reason, the Christmas tree puts things into perspective for me.  Yes, I've been stressed all day.  I put together medical charts.  Wrote letters to patients.  Made up the final exam for my Intro to Film class.  Created my lesson plan.  However, all those things seem distant and unimportant at the moment.

All that matters are the lights in the branches.  The tinsel swaying silver and orange and red and green.  The ornaments--Santas and candy canes and angels and crosses.  All these things tell the story of my life, my wife's life..  The story of our family.  And our home,

Saint Marty is a lucky guy.