PUTTING UP THE TREE ALONE - AIN'T NO FUN

When I was a kid, a long time ago, I can remember putting up the Christmas tree with someone. Either my mother or father or maybe all three of us, I was an only child. Even as a teenager there was always someone to assist with the lights and trimmings. When I got married in 1965 my wife and I always did things together and that meant buying and putting up the Christmas tree. My job was to put on the lights, at that point I would have to back away, sit on the couch and watch as my wife did her magic with the garland. It was always silver although in later years we (she) switched to gold. When that was done we both put on the ornaments. As the children arrived and started school the ornaments started to include handmade items made at school to mom or dad and mom and dad with the year and name of the child who made it. Over the years the handmade ornaments began to add up and of course they all had to be hung on the tree along with any new ones my wife picked up. This too was a family thing with each child having to place theirs in a specific spot. Figure 3 kids, one or two ornaments from school and scouts they began to add up, but they all still got put on the tree.
When all of the kids were gone it again was just my wife and I to put up the tree. In September 2005 we took a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan (the Christmas town) with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and visited Bronner's Christmas Wonderland. What a neat place. If you can't find what you want in the form of decorations for Christmas there you ain't' gonna find it.
On October 3, 2005 my wife had a stroke and was hospitalized until February 13, 2006 when she went to heaven to live. Of course that left only me to put up the tree in 2005 since she was in the hospital. With the lights on it was up to me to put the garland on, nobody can do it as well as Andie, but I did it anyway. When it came time to put the ornaments on I found a bag from Bronner's Christmas Wonderland with special ornaments she purchased when we were there. I hung them on the tree and as I opened each box I found one that said "Our 40th Christmas Together", you see October 9 was our 40th wedding anniversary and she had her stroke on October 3rd. That special ornament will always be on any tree I put up.
So like I said "PUTTING UP THE TREE ALONE - AIN'T NO FUN.