Thursday, December 11, 2008

The suspense is over...meet Fat Albert!

"Fat Albert" Colorado Blue Spruce, that is!

Christmas was my Sweet Hubby's favorite time of year. He loved it all...the sights, sounds, decorations. And most of all, the reason behind it all ~ Jesus.

I hadn't planned on decorating in any form or fashion this year. It would just be a hard reminder of all that is forever different now. But one thing that I took away from the GriefShare seminar on December 1st was to not forget the true meaning of Christmas, to not let the holiday pass by without taking time to celebrate the birth of our Lord.

Still, I knew that there was no way I could put up the two trees we always had - one live 12 footer in our living room and one artificial 7 footer in the family room. No way I could unpack all of our ornaments lovingly collected through the years. No way I could break out all the decorations we loved to have throughout the house for the holidays. All of that would break my heart right now; tear off the scab that is trying to form.

So I decided that I would do something different this year. And that's where Fat Albert comes in. He is a living variety of Colorado Blue Spruce and once Christmas is over with, he will be planted in our yard as a memorial to my Sweet Hubby. I look forward to watching him grow over the years and know that every December I will decorate him in honor of the man I love and miss so terribly.

This year, Fat Albert is my reminder of a Savior that willingly gave up His Godhood to walk among us knowing that He would eventually lay down His life for all of us. No greater love...
"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people...'" Luke 2:10


8 comments:

Jody said...

What a great idea to plant Fat Albert after Christmas. Praying for you today.

Tamela's Place said...

Hello gigi,

Such a wonderful idea. Fat albert LOL! I am sure your sweet hubby is laughing and rejoicing at the name you chose for the tree!

Love and blessings to you gigi

Tamela :)

Gigi said...

Thanks Jody - I hope Fat Albert does well...

Gigi said...

Tamela, "Fat Albert" is the name of the variety of Colorado Blue Spruce that this tree is! I'm not that clever to come up with the name myself! But it is cute, huh? Except Fat Albert is a "biter!" I can't tell you how many times my friend Kimberly and I got poked by the needles while we were stringing lights and hanging the ornaments! OUCH!

Marlene said...

Steve is smiling Gigi....what a wonderful idea!! Got to love the name...Fat Albert...! What does Miss LuLu think of the tree? Bet her little nose was going a mile a minute smelling the fresh scent!! Love ya!

Gigi said...

Marlene, as you can see from the pix I sent you, LuLu is much more interested in her BoBo from Miss McKenna!

La Bella Cooks said...

What a beautiful thing to enjoy not only lit up and gorgeous in your front room, but for the rest of the years as well. Looks like I need to send loads of prezzies just to get a stack going up to the tree base! That was plan #2, right? ;)

Gigi said...

Yes Bridgett ~ I know it will be bittersweet to watch Fat Albert grow...