A Christmas Tree is special to all Christians, and to many Mizos living away from Mizoram, it is even more special to decorate our own Christmas Tree at our rented apartments, even though the tree is definitely not as big as the ones our family will be decorating back at home. But still, it is the thoughts that count.
Today being 25th November, exactly one month to Christmas, this is the time I would usually start putting up my Christmas Tree too. However, today, I am doing the exact opposite - putting down my Christmas Tree!
You see, I haven't taken down my Christmas Tree since last year! It had been up the entire year!
It's not because of laziness. I knew from the beginning of this year that this would be my last year away from home. That it would finally be time to pack up and go home for good, and that I would be home before Christmas. And so, since I would not be spending any more Christmases away from Mizoram again, putting up a Christmas Tree this entire year was a way for me to move past that pain.
I still remember last year when my friends Sangi and Hlimi who live in the next lane from my apartment came over on their way back home from work, just as I was about to decorate my tree. They immediately volunteered to help me decorate it!
And with them still in their business attire, it really looked as if I hired some professional decorators to do my Christmas Tree :D
A big thanks to them again. Simple as my tree and decorations are, they made a fine work out of it.
Thadaaa.
And today, as I finally dismantled my Christmas Tree with one hand while wiping off the tears rolling down my cheek with the other hand, I realized this had been a fine good run for me. It was during First Year of College in the year 1999 that I started putting up my own Christmas Tree in my hostel room, and continued that tradition wherever I went since then. 20 years of Christmas Trees outside Mizoram, finally coming to an end now. You would cry too if you had been through what I had been through.
Ahhh... the last of my Christmas Tree.
With much luck and fortune, my next few Christmas Trees from now on will be not just with my family back home but maybe a future Mrs.? Of little children merrily running around the Christmas Tree and calling me daddy or even grandpa... who knows? That's the power of a Christmas Tree and the magic of Christmas. Take care for now everyone, bye. Love and Peace.
