We bought a 9 feet tall pre-lit tree 6 years ago. Last Christmas, two of the strings no longer lit. It was quite a project last week to remove those strings as each of the 600 lights was clipped to a branch. And then it took several days to reattach 800 LED lights (good for 15 seasons). Yes, we could have bought a new tree as the lights cost $100. But there was nothing wrong with the tree, and we have time on our hands.

Why I am sharing this story is that our tree is covered with gift ornaments from parishioners, family, and friends. Judy would pause and say, "Do you recall this one?" Yes, it's from our first Christmas 56 years ago. And then each one of the ornaments surfaces another memory of beloved friends, many of whom are part of the church eternal. How blessed we have been and are. We both talked about how much we missed the class parties, and of course, our open house at the parsonage. (We don't miss the preparation for those, but we do miss the people.)