The tree is slowly getting decorated. I have placed a number of shiny bulbs which always highlighted the tree.
The latest decorations are in memory of my wife, Jill.
The one to the left is a tree root from a bush in the back of our yard. When we rototilled the garden area 8 years ago, we found a number of plants that were extraneous or just plain weeds.
One bush stood out. The leaves were red, a color Jill always appreciated in plants. They reminded her of Ontario, her birthplace! So we tended this plant – and this year, in memory of Jill, I tried a transplant to the front yard. Didn’t work out well and I was left with a reminder that death comes.
So, I took the root of the plant, the source from which all the rest of beauty flows, and preserved the root. I’ve had it sitting in the house as a reminder of Jill’s life (the bright colors of red would describe her approach to life) and of her death (the root is shaped as a shepherd’s staff – a guide for sheep as they make their way through life).
The second ornament is a rose. Understand that I did not buy Jill flowers (a quirk of mine!). But upon her death a number of flowers arrived. This was a single rose that arrived upon the anniversary of the first month of her death. Sent by an anonymous donor – reminding me of the greatness of Jill’s life. She was a true rose, a plant that prospered despite hardship and tough circumstances (those thorns of life) and always came out smelling like a rose with the beauty of the petals displayed daily.
Now these two ornaments hang on my Christmas tree to be viewed each day – a look back in memory of Jill.