The thankful Tree on the trail

Early this morning, I went to the bike trail to do my usual Saturday exercise. On one of the rest stops along the trail, I noticed a nearby tree whose branches were full of hanging paper tags. When I checkout the tags, I discovered that each of them had a short note indicating what the writer was thankful for during the year. It was then that I discovered that someone made the tree a "Thankful Tree".

Near the base of the tree, I saw a large plastic jar full of blank tags and a pen with a note around the jar inviting people to write their 'thank you' notes. Reading a few notes hanging above me, I discovered that most of them had notes saying that they were thankful for their health and family. One note stated that she finally found someone to love. 

It is traditional for every family to put up a Christmas tree during the yuletide season but this is the first time I saw someone put up a 'thankful tree' in public. Maybe we should put up a thankful tree deep in our hearts next to our Christmas tree. The gifts under a thankful tree is greater and more precious than those you will find under the Christmas tree in our homes. 

One thing I noticed about the tree though is that it is a type of a tree variety commonly called a "Weeping Tree" because its branches and leaves droop down towards the ground. I guess when you are genuinely happy and overwhelmed with happiness, you tend to shed a tear or two.