The Christmas Tree

Often I do things for others and I do no get the reaction I imagined. Don't get me wrong, I don't do things for other people to "get a reaction"... but I think we are all guilty of imagining how we thought it would play out and maybe a tad disappointed if something doesn't seem "like much" to the person we did it for. At other times though, when you think what your doing yourself is "not much," it can end up meaning the world to the person you did it for... leaving your heart with warm fuzzies and the lasting memory of that moment.

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As we drove up to Grandpa Underwood's house one cold night in December 2009 bearing a bucket of KFC Chicken, we looked forward to the visit ahead. Grandpa's doorway was dark and it would appear to most that perhaps he wasn't home. We rang the doorbell and a orange light turned on just and we heard the creaky door open. Grandpa Underwood answered the door. "Hello. Come on in," he said.

Taking off our coats, we began with our usual greeting hugs and Shayne's Mom and I set the table for the chicken dinner. We ate,laughed, and enjoyed each others company. We were all bursting in our bellies by the end of the dinner. Once the table was cleared, we moved on to the next "item of business." Grandpa needed a Christmas tree.

Mom had already set the tree up and had cleaned his living room for our evening. The living room had collected months, or possibly even years, of dust but now the living room seemed to gleam. Things haven't been the same for Grandpa since his wife of over sixty years passed away in 2004. For years, Grandpa has managed well on his own, and even today at 88 seems to be making it around well. However, Mom moved in with her Dad a couple months ago and I could tell he is enjoying the companionship and comfort of knowing she is there.

"Where are the ornaments?" Shayne asked.

"Under the stairs somewhere," said Mom. Shayne went downstairs and brought back three boxes of ornaments. Some of which were older than Shayne and I put together.

"Lets bring up the bears too," Mom told Shayne as they both went downstairs to bring up more boxes. I had forgotten about the bears. I remember every Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Underwood putting out their collection of Christmas bears. There are usually a husband and wife bear, all with the year sewn on the bottom paw. They used to fill the room.

Coming back upstairs and into the living room with several boxes, they said, "we got half of them. I think this is all we'll need this year."

It was fun to take the bears out of the boxes and see the dates on them. We matched them up husband and wife, and lined them up on the couch. Ellie loved seeing them and cuddling with a few at a time.

After Shayne and I put the lights on the tree, we opened the boxes and unwrapped the ornaments. Grandpa seemed to smile to himself flooded with memories of the contents of the boxes. It was obvious he and Grandma never threw anything away, and they saved anything they thought they might need or want later on.

Carefully Ellie, Mom, and I put ornaments on the tree. We started with some ornaments with our names on them. Yes, they needed some updating due to more great grandchildren and marriages in the family, but it was touching to see our names on these precious ornaments. Grandpa placed some of his antique ornaments on the tree. Not long after, the tree was glowing and sparkling with the ornaments hanging down. It looked beautiful.

It wasn't enough to us even though Grandpa seemed satisfied with the outcome of his tree and decorations so far. We felt Grandpa needed lights in his window. Grandpa stood closely to Shayne as they bowed the string of lights around his front window. Grandpa gave his "notes" to Shayne, and together they made it look wonderful.

"The neighbors are probably in shock to see that the Underwood's have lights and a tree up," Grandpa said with a smile. It was at this moment I was informed that Grandpa hadn't had a tree up in three years. Grandpa scouted out the window as if to make sure people could see that HE was putting up lights. "People keep slowing down as they pass my house!" Grandpa said with a chuckle.

It was so cute to see Grandpa go outside to double check how his now festive home looked. He smiled as he peered in his front window.

One finishing touch. The star. Shayne put the unlit star up on the tree. We turned off the lights in the living room. After everyone was sitting, Shayne turned on the Christmas tree lights. All at once we started saying, "Wow it's beautiful.... it turned out great..... we did a good job, etc." After several moments enjoying the tree, Shayne, Mom, and Ellie left the room. After a moment, I left the living room too.

After a few minutes, I noticed Grandpa was still in his living room. I wondered if he was fixing parts of the tree or if he might have needed help with something. As I went in to check, I noticed his eyes were tearing up. He wasn't looking at me, just softly sitting in his chair and feeling the emotion of the moment. It was then that I realized this had meant so much to him. He was probably having memories of his dear wife, and the times they shared together at Christmas.

I left the room to give him another minute. I felt like if I had stayed I might have been interrupting his moment. After a while, Grandpa came out and it was time to say goodbye.

As we pulled out of the driveway, Shayne and I both agreed how happy and blessed we were to help him put up his tree this year and how good we felt inside knowing how it seemed bring more light to Grandpa's eyes. We drove away slowly, looking at the beautiful scene in the window and noticing Grandpa as he waved goodbye a second and third time. It is the highlight of our Christmas so far.

We knew that putting up the tree would make his Christmas better, but we never would have guessed what it would do for ours. It gave our Christmas more meaning as we remembered the true reason for the season. It is a night we will never forget, and can not be easily topped.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!