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Before anyone takes offense at the title, that name is near and dear to my heart. Quick history - I am Jewish and married a Protestant, got married in a Unitarian Church and neither of our (2) children were brought up with religion.
I cannot place the exact year it started, but it was early in my life with my wife of 34 years, so I'll estimate around 30 years ago. Somehow, around Dec 1st I was designated/chosen to come to my in-laws house and put up their tree. That was pretty much my mother-in-laws decision. Yeah, the Jewish son-in-law. And that extended to my own house. Actually I think I became very good at putting up a tree which is why my mother-in-law (passed away several years ago) insisted that only I put up her tree.
With the grandkids coming over this Christmas Eve, and Hanukkah in the rearview mirror (I light the menorah each night), the tree needed to be up. I procrastinated, and obviously pushed it off. But todsay I put it up. I do it for my wife, and for the grandkids. In total it took around 4 hours with several breaks. So many ornaments. And I'm particular in properly filling in open spaces with this old tree.
I made a conscious decision 36 years ago that this girl I met when she was 17 and I 19, knowing she was Protestant, not to let religion get in the way of love, and so we married. So now 55 and still putting up the tree, it gives me joy in a non-religious way. It makes my wife happy, and she always remembers the name the tree was given back when I first started putting it up at her parents house.
Question: being married to a Protestant and honoring some of her religious practices... Has that given you any kind of connection to her Jesus beliefs (assuming she has any)?
Question: being married to a Protestant and honoring some of her religious practices... Has that given you any kind of connection to her Jesus beliefs (assuming she has any)?
Interesting name of the tree, and interesting that your mother-in-law insisted you be the person to put up such a tree. Seems like there's something deeper going on here, but what do I know?
Interesting name of the tree, and interesting that your mother-in-law insisted you be the person to put up such a tree. Seems like there's something deeper going on here, but what do I know?
I was talking to my wife today about the tree, it's name, and the memories. When I was asked to put it up that first year (drag the tree out of the basement etc.), it just started from there. My FIL was sick or something that weekend, and me being the visiting man in the house it became my job that day. I really did a good job, and from that point on my MIL pretty much waited for me to put up the tree each year. I came up with the name for the tree because I found it sort of comical in a Goyim house putting up the tree, and they all thought it so funny that it stuck. Sure, I could have played some religious angle, but decided why bother because it was just a tree. There really wasn't any other issue about me doing so.
But to further my OP, although I really didn't mind putting up the tree over the years, it was the last year I put up the tree in their house that meant most to me (5 years ago). My MIL was at home under hospice care in December 5 years ago. I came down that year and put up the tree, and I could just see in her face, already masked with morphine and the oncoming death, her joy (by this time it had been more than 2 decades of me putting up the tree). She ended up passing away on January 2nd, on her 70th birthday. That day is also my wife's birthday.
Sounds to me like he loves his wife. I find nothing strange about that, but maybe you do...
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