Christmas memories (sans photos)

First, I am so impressed by any blogger that is able to put a post up on a daily basis. When my life turns to chaos, the first thing to go is my blog, well, first it's my sanity, and then it's my blog.

Last weekend, we put up the Christmas decorations and it was a rather sentimental time. I enjoyed getting out the decorations and remembering where they came from. It was also nice because the kids decorated the tree this year and that made me happy. While I was rummaging through all of the special items, I was thinking, “Ooh! I should blog about this!” I wanted to include fabulous pictures of all of the items, but I just can’t figure out how to get good depth of field going with my point and shoot camera.

Do you know what depth of field is? That’s where your subject is in focus and everything in the background is all blurry. Do you know why I so desperately want to take a picture with MAJOR depth of field? It’s so I can take a picture of the thing I want in focus, but then all of the crap that is sitting around it is out of focus so maybe you won’t notice all of the crap that is lying around.

So since just telling you about the items and not including pictures would be extremely lame, I decided to tell you a story that I remembered while digging through the Christmas boxes.

My friend decided she wasn’t going to get a Christmas tree one year. I can’t recall why she and her husband made this decision, but I was stunned! How could they not have a Christmas tree in their home! I bought the stuff to make and decorate a small artificial tree for her with lights and decorations. Then I took it to her house to put it together and set to work, all the while, just telling her it was a project I was working on for a friend. I got the whole thing finished and realized I had neglected to buy a topper for the tree. Excitedly, she told me she had just the thing, and ran downstairs to get a bow for the top of the tree. As we finished the tree and admired our work together, she asked, “Who is this tree for, anyway?”

“YOU!” I said.

Tears flowed.

The giving memories are just as fulfilling as the getting memories. I hope I will have an opportunity this season to surprise someone with a gift like I did that day.