So what became of my tree?

Ken and I went to opening night at the Festival of Trees. My mom and dad were there along with my mom's brother and his wife. It was the PERFECT time to see everything. Since it was bidding night, everyone had to have a V.I.P. ticket to get in. No one under the age of 16 is allowed that night. Needless to say, the festival was quiet and not one bit crowded. There definitely was a spirit there since the people that attend opening night are the donors, decorators and their families. As cheesy as it sounds, you could certainly feel the love that each tree represented. There were many smiles and many tears.

Here are just a couple of pictures we took at the festival on Monday.

This tree was one of the strangest ones there... but it sold. The tree was made entirely out of Sprite bottles. It was this odd looking green plastic tree. There was a large bottle collection that came with it.

It was interesting!

This display was fun. It was done by the same family and shared one large space.

There was a University of Utah side...

and a Brigham Young University side.

Beautiful trees!

So what happened with my tree?

I was pretty disappointed that it didn't sell on opening night. It had a high price tag on it and didn't come with any "stuff". It was just the tree, which I happened to like.
 But still, $2475.00 for a Christmas tree is pretty spendy.

There is an interesting end to the tree's journey. I received a phone call tonight from one of the board members of the Festival of Trees. She explained that my tree was in a unique position. There was an interested buyer for the tree.  The buyer wanted more information about my uncle, which I gave to them. I also told the board member a little bit about my aunt and how she has volunteered at the festival each year since my uncle passed away in 1999. The board member took my information and told me she would be calling me back.

A few minutes later I received another phone call from this same board member telling me that the tree had sold. The tree sold for $1600.00 to a buyer who asked to remain anonymous. The buyer didn't want the tree, however. The stipulation was that the tree be paid for by the anonymous buyer and be given to my uncle's widow, my aunt Kay. Wow. I certainly wasn't expecting that. I wasn't sure how my aunt was going to feel about that. She is so sensitive and emotional about my uncle being gone. I called her to tell her about what had happened and she was overwhelmed.

The tree will be delivered by the festival to my aunt's house tomorrow. I hope it brings happy thoughts about my uncle and a feeling of love knowing it was bought just for her. Thank you to the generous person who bought my little tree. It was a great experience for me. (My mom and I are planning on doing it again next year.)  It took 15+ hours to decorate it and during that time alone, I was able to reflect on my life and family. I had some pretty powerful and spiritual realizations during those hours.

Here's one last look at my tree on opening night.

Thank you again to the anonymous buyer. You've allowed our family to feel the Spirit of Christmas in a very rare way. Although this isn't the journey I thought the tree would take, (it is certainly an uncommon one) I am amazed that the tree has more or less come full circle. I hope my Uncle Wesley is smiling as he's riding his horse through the hills of heaven. We miss him!