a tree of life

all year long, i have a little pine tree that stays up in my living room... lights and all...

i call it my 'life tree'....

it has ornaments on it from all phases of life of late... true, some of them are Christmas ones...and snowmen, and angels... but most are not... most are talismen of a journey taken and thoughts, prayers and love served along the way.

a cranberry pomegranate forever preserved on the end of a ribbon, a copper acorn, a jeweled butterfly, a pony bead bracelet from one of my students, an inscribed ornament to my mother two months after she passed away, and many more celebrating friendship, love, hope and faith...each one with its own story...all topped with a gentle angel, made from a paper plate by one of my former students who is Muslim....

it's one of my treasures.. and it serves me very well, indeed...

this year, as was the case of last year, too, it will be our Christmas tree... and as is not the case of last year, there are already a couple of presents beneath it...but the gifts this tree gives are without end...they last all year for me...

...yes, Christmas lasts all year for me...