The Gift

I don't normally blog about presents I've received.  Not that people are showering me with gifts left and right or something, but even if they were, I figure it's not something you would want to read about.  I try very hard to not write stuff that would make people feel bad about themselves, and a big part of that is not bragging-- about the kids, about my husband, about anything, really.  (Disney World pictures aside.)

Anyway, all this to say, please forgive me for totally bragging now.  But I have to share this present that I received from Craig's parents for Christmas:

Isn't it beautiful?  This photo is a bit dark, but can you see that there is a birth stone in the tree for each of my children?  I have a hard time explaining just how much I love it.

It's funny, because I never really knew until I had kids just how proud I'd be of them.  Not necessarily anything they've done-- I'm just proud that I have them at all.  I'm proud that I've grown them and birthed them and kept them fed and clean and alive.  I'm proud that I've managed to do this five times over.  I've worked hard raising these children-- it's been my life's work for the past ten years-- and I'm pleased with the results so far.  And like any parent, I hope that when they're grown I will still feel that they are worthy of my pride.

But my love for this necklace is even more than that.  One of the birth blogs that I read posted recently how to make Tree of Life wall hangings (something my non-crafty self can't imagine ever trying to do), but she began by saying that in her experience, most people who love birth also love trees.  (Maybe it's because a healthy placenta will appear to have a "Tree of Life" in it?)  I read her statement and was dumbfounded because that described me perfectly!  I LOVE trees.  Not in some sappy, tree-hugging way, but in the way that I need them around me.  And when one dies, I'm sad.  And when Craig wants to cut some of the ones in our yard down so we'll have more sunlight, I never let him because I just can't bear to get rid of a healthy tree.  They feel like friends, somehow.  Every place we've lived, my first requirement is always that we have big, full grown trees in the yard. 

After staring at my necklace for some time, I googled Tree of Life and was delighted to find that it is such a huge theme in most cultures that it has been deemed a mytheme-- the page lists some of the many religions that include a Tree of Life and it included every religion I've heard of and them some.  Something about this made me happy-- this universal theme that everyone can relate to on some level.  In this time where our country feels so divided, I like the idea that there are truths to which everyone can ascribe.

I love my pretty necklace.  I love that it showcases both the children I'm proud of and important archetypes. 

Thanks, Tom and Donna!  It's absolutely perfect.