Can a tree of remembrance really bring peace this season of Christmas? Many people experience the Blue Christmas that Elvis sang about because their loved ones have died and aren’t physically present. That is when Christmas can become depressing because everyone else seems to be feeling up and you are feeling down. So how can you cope and experience the joy that Christmas promises?

Let me tell you a story that may help you remember a deceased loved one in a positive way. In the fall of 1999, we discovered that my wife’s father, Bill was diagnosed with cancer. He kept fighting the fact that he was very ill and battled with courage. Right before Thanksgiving of that year, we met with his social worker and hospital staff to learn that he was dying.

He finally admitted that he was sick and entered into hospice. The doctors thought he would last six months. But he died two weeks later, on the Feast of Little Christmas, which is celebrated on December 6 every year. That year was a very sad time as Christmas approached.

Here is the truth that we discovered. When someone you know and love passes on, you don’t have to dwell on how she or he looked on the death bed. You remember how he or she lived during life. During his life, Bill gave us a present every year – his love of Christmas. You see, Bill loved real Christmas trees. Every year, even though it cost more, he bought a real tree to decorate in his living room. He hung with lots of Christmas lights on that real tree.

On the day after Bill died, we went to Wisconsin to plan his funeral arrangements. On the way, we drove past a semi-trailer from Tree of Life, a commercial company. We thought it was one of those special signs that Bill was alive in a new way, since Bill died on Little Christmas and this was the time to put up a Christmas tree. Since he died, every year we buy and put up a real Christmas tree and hang the Christmas lights by December 6.

At Christmas, you can remember your deceased loved ones. A tree symbolizes life. Every Christmas, people put up a real or artificial Christmas tree to remember the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. A living tree memorial gift at Christmas time is one of the most beautiful ways to show your love and care to families and friends who have lost a loved one.

One very peaceful way to remember deceased loved ones during the Christmas season is to buy and decorate trees for them. In your own home, you can set up a Christmas tree to remember them at this time of year. Then, for the rest of the year, you can buy a memorial tree to remember them for a lifetime.

Christmas trees last only a few weeks, but a real tree lasts a life time. If you want to remember your loved ones at Christmas, put up a Christmas tree in their memory. Then, buy a tree of remembrance to celebrate Christmas with them all year round, throughout the entire year – year after year.