Putting Up the Tree

The first year after my husband died, I had absolutely zero interest in Christmas, but I still had a six-year-old. I acquired a tree, dragged all the lights and ornaments out, and let the kid have at it.

It was a six foot tree, and all the lights and ornaments were on the one section of tree she could reach, standing directly in front of it. I didn’t care, and she thought it was beautiful. We still laugh about that tree.

Letting her decorate the tree alone has remained a tradition, though. Acqu...