Thursday, December 18, 2014

Daddy the Tree is Gone



Knowing this year is not going to be our year for expensive Christmas gifts, I have looked for other ways to bring value to this season.  So....we decided to have a live tree this year.  Yep.  Griswold style!

After arriving at the Christmas tree farm, the nice attendants asked, "Do you want us to cut down the tree or do you want to cut it down?"  

Is that a real question?  

Move out of the way!

A few moments later, we were driving away with our first real Christmas tree in the bed of the truck.

Five miles down the road, we pulled into a gas station for a fill-up.  The well lit convenience store was the perfect place to gaze at the perfect tree.  The kids got out of the vehicle to see the masterpiece.

Then I heard it.

"Daddy, the tree is gone."  

With as much patience as I could muster, I asked the children to get back in the truck.  We turned around and went looking for the perfect tree...again.

There it was.  Four miles back.  In a ditch.  

Minutes earlier, our perfect Christmas tree had blown out of the back of the truck.

I re-loaded the tree and we drove home (more slowly this time).

But in the end, we made a memory.  We wrote a new chapter in our story.  We created a smile-maker.  

Yes, I felt like an idiot.  But it seemed to make everyone else smile.


No matter what's going on in your life this Christmas, be willing to create a smile-maker.  Change your routine.  Infuse tradition with fun.  

And don't forget to securely tie down your belongings.  They may blow out!




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