Charlie The Christmas Tree

Once upon a time there was a Christmas tree named Charlie. Now I know, you're going to tell me that Christmas trees don't have names but Charlie was different. You see, he grew near a path where the children walked to get to a trail that led to one of their favorite places. They loved this spot because there was an old rope that hung from a tree and they could swing on the rope back and forth and back and forth and they had a lot of fun doing that. Charlie grew right next to that path and when the children would go by him to swing on the rope they were happy and laughing. So he decided, hearing all their names as they came and went, that he would call himself Charlie since he was happy too.
One day it got towards Christmas time again, and Charlie always looked forward to Christmas time because he knew he and the other trees would be covered with snow and they would be happy and beautiful. In the distance he could see houses all decorated with lights that would look so nice. Sometimes someone would come by and throw a little tinsel on Charlie and he'd feel real nice about that and perk right up. He loved Christmas just like the children did who passed him by on the path. This year Charlie decided he wanted to do something different. He wasn't sure what it was but he just knew he wanted to do something different.
Most people were going to the lot to buy their Christmas trees but there were still a few people who went out to the woods to cut one down. Some of those people came over and stood by Charlie. There were two children with their Mother and Father. The Father said, "How about this one?" Both the youngsters spoke up right away, "No, no, no. We walk by that tree all the time when we go to the place where we swing on the rope." "Oh yes, I know that place", Dad said, "that's a favorite spot of yours. I remember doing something like that around here when I was your age."
"Yes, yes", their Mother said, "seems there's always been a rope up there for the children to swing on. It's been replaced a few times. Yes, you're right, we can't disturb this tree." "Maybe we ought to decorate it this year", said one of the children whose name was Millie. Millie's brother Timmy said, "Yes, can we?" "What about the tree we're going to have at home", said his Mother."Well sure, we can do that but wouldn't it be fun to decorate this tree too?", said Millie.
"Well, sure - why not. Come on, we'll go to the lot like usual. We'll buy a tree there instead of cutting this one down. How about that," said Dad. Everyone agreed and as they went on down the trail their voices faded away.
Charlie leaned over to his friend next to him - "How about that! See - the children looked out for me and they're going to decorate me." His friend said, "Oh, people - you can't be sure about them." "No, no", Charlie said, "I know they'll be back." Sure enough, about two or three days later he saw Millie and Timmy headed towards him and right behind them was their Mother and Father.
Where the snow wasn't covering Charlie they put on tinsel and bows and a star right on the very top of him. Then they stood back and smiled. The sun was shining and glittering off the snow and tinsel and Millie said, "Oh it's so pretty. I bet all the other kids are going to love it." " Maybe", said her Mother," this will become a tradition and every year people will decorate this tree and then when they walk by they'll smile." What a wonderful idea Charlie thought to himself. I'd like that. The children admired the decorations for a while and took pictures standing in front of Charlie. "Oh boy!" they said and as they went home their voices trailed off. Charlie leaned over to his friend. "Ah hah", Charlie said, "how about that?" "Yes", his friend said, "you were right. I guess there's hope for people after all."
Well the years went by and every year Timmy and Millie or some of the other neighborhood children would come by and they'd reach up as high as they could on Charlie and they'd re-decorate him every Christmas. Pretty soon Charlie was so big and so tall that they couldn't reach that high up and no one had any chance of putting a star on the top of Charlie so they just did as much as they could and everyone liked and admired what was done. Every once in a while someone would throw tinsel way up high and it would stay there year round, sparkling in the sunshine and catching a little ray of light when the moon was out. Charlie would enjoy it and appreciate the added beauty to himself.
Well the years went by and the children grew up and had children of their own and their children grew up and had children of their own. Charlie started feeling kind of old and tired and was about ready to drop some seeds the way pine trees do in the form of pine cones to become new young trees. Before he did that he said to his seedlings, "Now I just want you to know that sometimes people can be kind of a problem for trees but other times they'll come along and surprise you and do wonderful things. They'll appreciate your beauty and maybe even add to it. It just goes to show, people and trees can be friends after all." Then he let go of his seeds and they rolled this way and that way and they looked forward to making friends with other trees and becoming friends with people someday too.

Goodlife and Happy Holidays everyone