save the tree cut. a simple memory.

We save the tree cut from our Christmas tree every year.

It's a simple, inexpensive, and very easy tradition to start.

Unless, of course you don't get a real tree.

This is the sixth Christmas that we've had in our current home -- and it's also been six years since my husband's cancer diagnosis. So those rings of pine wood remind our family of years of victory.

The kids, especially the little boys, love to play with those pieces of memory wood.

And this year? Even better, more fun. Our tree, a beautiful Fraser Fir that we got at Costco, had an absolutely ginormous {I can use that word -- didn't Buddy the Elf say that in Elf?} trunk. So this year, 2011, we have this large piece of solid wood that we know will be talked about for years to come.

Someday, Lord willing, my grandchildren will look through that pile of tree trunk cuts and then I can tell them about this year. Sure, maybe, I'll tell them about it being six years from their grandpas cancer diagnosis, and the year that Samuel was told he had Celiac Disease. But, beyond that, I will tell them it was a year of goodness and joy. Of family, and adventures, and healing, and victory.

Save your tree cuts. Write the date.

It's a simple way to remember.

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