When the time comes to erect my Christmas tree, it's just not an ordinary tree, but a "Tree of Memories." During my many years of traveling, I've accumulated many Christmas tree ornaments from where I've been and many pictures that are very meaningful to me. I'd like to share a few of these with you. At the top of my tree in a Christmas wreath is a picture of my godson, Dustin Russell, when he graduated from St. Francis Xavier University with his BBA degree in 2004. From there, a friend of mine who is a skilled artist in her own right, has a "cottage industry" -arts and crafts- of putting pictures on Christmas ornaments. She has made several for me: one of our extended family, one of the old and new United Church in Clarenville, and just recently one of my great-niece when she received her B.Mus degree from MUN in 2020. All very significant to me. Before my mother deceased, she always showed a desire to see the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia. One summer, after I finished studying at MUN, I said to mom, "This is the time you shall see the Rockies." We drove from Clarenville to Moncton, NB, where my sister lived, then Air Canada to Vancouver. Each day we took bus tours around the area- Vancouver Island including the famous Butchart Gardens, up Grouse Mountain, and all the historic sites around the City of Vancouver. After my mother deceased, I sold my house in Clarenville and moved to Riverview, NB where another chapter in my life began. While there, I met an enterprising person who owned a bus line business. She organized bus trips from the Moncton area to many points in Eastern Canada and the US eg. Boston, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Niagara Falls, Quebec City, Halifax area, Annapolis Valley, and PEI just to mention a few. Where possible, I always purchased a Christmas tree ornament as a souvenir of my visit. In 2007, I returned to Clarenville to be nearer my family. In 2008 about one hundred of our high school reunion took a western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Victory. Leaving Miami, USA, stopping at Cozumel, Mexico, Grand Cayman Islands, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, then back to Miami. Here in Clarenville each year, the Clarenville Area Chamber of Commerce commissions a NL artist to assemble a pewter Christmas tree ornament. Since 2000(incl) up to 2020, my godson has given to me as a Christmas gift, one of these ornaments. Because they are made of pewter they are quite heavy, and form the base of my tree. Interspersed among other ornaments are some that students who were in my class gave to me. Little did I know in 1973-'74 that a student in my grade 4 class would some day become CEO of Eastern Health in the 2020s. Every Christmas when I put a wooden Santa on my tree I always think of David Diamond. So, you see, my Christmas tree is no ordinary Christmas tree, but a "Tree of Memories!"   Submitted By: NULL