I do not like avocados. I realize this is tantamount to treason for a native Californian, but it's my eternal position on the subject. I was never persuaded by Rod and his beloved guacamole or any of my many friends who love and revere the avocado. But, the one hanging on my little Christmas tree this year makes me laugh and it's just perfect because it's not real!
The way it came to my tree today is a sweet and hilarious story. Two years ago the Johnston family stayed with me on their way to the Oregon Coast. We had a great time at a Mexican restaurant which is when fourth grader Mattie learned I do not eat avocados. We had quite a discussion about the slimy, weird, green stuff so imagine our collective surprise when we pulled into my garage after dinner and saw a big box holding a variety of things that said "Avocados" across the side! It was a Costco box that'd been there for months after carrying food I really do eat. Everyone laughed and Mattie remembered. She really remembered.
Today was a long work day so getting out of the car to fetch the mail in the wet, windy weather was a pain, but it was worth it to get a box from Texas. As soon as I hung the glass avocado with its bright, copper colored pit I sent a picture to Tressa, Mattie's Mom, who called me right back. "Mattie wants to talk to you" and away we went! This kid has more energy than all the lightbulbs in my house and she's a hoot. "Aunt Sherry, remember about the avocado box? I saw this ornament and told my Mom you had to have it!" And then she told me all about being the Snow Queen in the school play today, about how half the school is her friend (of course), about their Christmas trip back to Utah to see their family and ski, and how our dogs urp when their tummies are upset. It was a wild ride through a sixth grader's mind!
When she talked about seeing her family for Christmas, she added a little snippet I just about missed: "We'll see everyone, all our cousins, my Grandmas and Great-Grandma; everyone except our dear Aunt Sherry will be there." It was so sweet. I love being her Aunt by friendship!
This will be the first Christmas of my life without my Mom so to honor her I got a small living rosemary bush and decorated it with the beaded ornaments we've had through the years from her Mom, Grandma Edith. It's poignantly full of love and memories. The other small tree has a few of my favorite ornaments from the decades of Christmas with Rod - more poignant memories of love.
In grief, we build our memorials to those who were always going to be here, but are now somehow gone. We build these little tributes to invoke their memories, to call them back to us. But, new life, like the One in the manger, can only come when room is made for the surprising, for the new, for the joy, for the silly - like a glass avocado from a wildly happy and loving little girl.
It brightens my season and makes me grateful for this Christmas - indeed different from any I've ever known.
Different in who is no longer here, but eternally the same in the One who is coming.
Thank-you, Tressa and Mattie, for making this real for me, this particular year, with the sparkly, glittery, shiny, bright avocado on my tree.
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