My First Christmas Tree—A Holiday Tragedy

My First Christmas Tree—A Holiday Tragedy

My daddy liked for everything to be perfect. The silver Christmas tree with the color wheel and the pink bulbs had to be perfectly placed on the tree. If they weren’t, they were taken off and replaced with a ruler and a sharp tongue. So, Bo never much wanted to participate. Bo stayed in his room and played the Christmas carols on the piano to set the mood.

At Easter time, Dad did the same thing. If your egg wasn’t colored good enough to be set out in the dish, it was ruthlessly put back in the carton and placed in the refrigerator to be eaten, instead of displayed.

When it came time for gift giving, Dad gave us cash and said, “Buy yourselves some gifts.”

I was forty-eight before I bought my first Christmas tree. You can imagine why. All the years prior to this I had spent away for the holidays, so I never decorated. I would celebrate, but I never had Christmas at my home.

Three years ago, my mother had a triple by-pass, which left us having to stay in Nashville for Christmas. Fortunately for us, the year before we had decided that traveling during the holiday was just too much for anyone. So, we opted on staying home, which led me to buying every 75-90% off ornament at Macy’s and Dillards the year before. Imagine how my heart burst as I opened every one of those fancy ornaments and began to make my own Christmas tradition, trying to make the tree as beautiful as I could so that Mom would have something lovely to look at during her recovery.

The young boy who shot all the people in Connecticut probably was much like me when I was a kid. Lost and alone, with very few people who understood him. But the one thing I had that I don’t imagine he had was a very strong belief in God. That belief wasn’t imposed upon me. It was something I searched for—asked for, and found.

You know of all the cities in Connecticut, Newtown is the only town I actually stayed in when I was in college. I had a dear friend who lived there and invited me to visit in the summer. So, I remember the town perfectly. It is a very wealthy and beautiful town. The homes are all upscale. I would imagine that most people living there were middle to upper class. So, the idea of something like this happening in their town probably was even more of a shock than you’d imagine.

Life is strangely interconnected. This morning I started my yoga class with a meditation. I told the class the intention of the meditation was going to be how the past has impacted our lives today. We went through personal and social tragedies of our past and remembered whom we were with when we were brought safely through the worst and hardest times. Most importantly, we brought back what we learned from the past events.

You can’t face mortality without coming out of the lesson more appreciative of your own life and those you love. If there is one sole lesson to learn from anything like this, it is certainly living and loving fully in the now.

I look forward to knowing more about the child’s background and what brought him to this terrible outcome. I know by finding out more, we can prevent more events like this from happening.

Parents, stay in touch with your children. Don’t let them get so far away that you can no longer reach them. Get help if you need it. Because if you don’t, look what might happen.

My

 dear friends of “Blog to Grow for Spirit,” I am so happy to announce that for this Holiday season I am offering two special editions of Inspirational Books: IN SEARCH OF A MORE AUTHENTIC YOU, Book 1 and Book 2. Each book has 100 readings from my spiritual and inspirational writings.

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If you have someone you’ve been wanting to share my blog with, I’d recommend getting a copy for this special person this season. I am only offering this book in Kindle or PDF platform this season. But if you want to get it, print it out, and give it to someone you love, you are certainly welcome to do that.

The

 cost for each book is only $3.99.  You can’t beat that for a Christmas bargain. All you have to do is send me an email at bosebastian5@gmail.com and I will send you the book via email as an attachment. You can pay for the book by Paypal (bosebastian5@me.com), Credit Card [by providing info in the email or by phone (615) 400-2334], or by sending a check to:

Bo Sebastian

5001 Maywood Drive

Nashville, TN 37211

Also, for this season, please consider shopping at shop.bosebastian.com for mp3s, books, paintings, and gift certificates for any services I offer: hypnotherapy, private yoga, vocal lessons, and private vegetarian cooking classes.

I’ll be happy to send you a beautiful gift certificate or you can create one of your own. Again payment can be by Paypal (bosebastian5@me.com), Credit Card [by providing info in the email or by phone (615) 400-2334], or by sending a check to the above address.

Many thanks to you for supporting me and my work: To Grow For Spirit.

Bo Sebastian, CHT

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Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and LifeCoach, available for private sessions to Quit Smoking, Lose Weight with the new Lap Band-Hypnosis, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334.  

I am trying to spread the word about my blog and I need your help. Please let your friends know it exists, if it gives you hope and blesses you each day. Your connection to me blesses me in everyway possible. And I would be greatly pleased for you to share anything that you read by clicking the share button in Facebook.com/bo.sebastian, or add it to your Twitter at BoSebastian; or LinkedIN at Bosebastian5@gmail.com; or find me at www.bosebastian.com. Any of my books can be found on Amazon, just by typing my name in the header.

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