I recently watched a 911 episode in which a wife unknowingly had a bullet in the at back of her head. It was put there by her husband but she had no recollection of it. Now, I laughed at the scene where she finally remembered what had happened to her. I mean, I didn’t laugh at the domestic violence. I laughed at how the whole scene was precipitated by the fact that they hadn’t taken their Christmas tree and it was mid January.

In my household, we typically do not take down our Christmas tree until February sometime. It’s not that we continue to celebrate it that whole time. It’s just that we are lazy. And, this year we are even worse. It is April and my Christmas tree is still up. Not only is it still standing, but we still have unopened gifts under the tree.

In February we started getting wind at my clinic that Coronavirus was coming. And, I just got focused on work. The Christmas tree and the gifts were a casualty of the looming pandemic. Although, I really shouldn’t use that phrasing. There’s a positive side to not yet having taken down the tree. Multiple ones, frankly.

First off, the tree reminds us of happier times in the past and the beauty of seeing a happy sleepy kid unwrapping his gifts. Second, the tree reminds us that happier times will come back again. Third, one of these upcoming weekends, I may treat myself to opening one of my gifts. As a matter of fact, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I already have celebratory items. Fourth, well we may just leave the trip up till this Christmas. Save us on time. I now can see what type of ornaments we need for this year and can plan. Fifth, it is pretty. Beauty in this time is a good thing.

If you are like us and still have your Christmas tree up, leave it up. If not, maybe consider putting it out early. Happy holidays!