I Believe I Know

Let' s all understand that I believed! I believed that I could change the font in this Christmas missal, but as we all can see, believing a thing don't make it so! On the other hand, some things a mother just knows--like knowing that the best Christmas present of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up together. And like knowing that there is a Santa Claus and it's o.k. to believe in him. And like knowing that all the trimmings and parties that go along with Christmas are just fine, but what we want at Christmas and all through the year is illustrated in these words : Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh!" he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?" "Nothing", said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you."

Yes , I did notice the change in font before the quote. I do not know how it happened, but I BELIEVE that it was an accident.

These pictures of Jon and his Christmas tree stand reminded me of some other stands that I have taken in the past. Yes, taken ! Brother Lonnie tried early on to help with the tree, but he didn' t have a whole lot of patience for custom woodworking.

Earlier Christmas trees( from l955 until Andy was old enough to fashion a stand from scrap materials) were "supported" at various times ,sometimes in the same year, in buckets or boxes filled with dirt, sand, rocks, and anything else in Brother Lonnie's line of vision . We were also open to the possibility of propping the tree against the wall. We often used bricks in the top of the bucket, arranged in a circle around the tree and carefully (don't touch) laid on end . As you might imagine, this was a shaky situation, and we had to be very careful when we put our popcorn strings on the tree. Now, I guess Brother Lonnie believed his stand would not fall, and I know he hoped it would not. I'm quite sure my children had to be persuaded when they grew up that Christmas trees are supposed to stand up straight, not leaning at a perfectly respectable 30 degree angle. One strategy I implemented was to choose a very pitiful tree, one that no one else would have, knowing that after the fifth time it fell over it wouldn't matter anyway. And I know I would gladly trade my pretty, upright tree in 2007 for that tree on the floor. Some things a mother just knows!

I believe that Jon could have bought a tree stand, but I' m so very glad that he didn't! And I believe that the story of the tree stand that he made for his babies' first Christmas will be a part of their family lore. I also believe that Jon' s tree will stand because of his stand. But I know that its o.k. if it falls. Some things a mother just knows!