Christmas Present From A U of U Fan...

As I look out my bedroom window tonight I see snow on the lawn and a shiny black road beyond. A week from tonight, at this same hour, I suspect I'll be eating (or at least have access to...) delicious leftover turkey and the trimmings that accompany such a meal. Of course, there will have been football watched and work left undone at the office. It's a great time of the year.

Many have put up their Christmas decorations and lights (us included...), but are the lights officially "up" if they're not turned on? I guess it's a question for the ages...

I took my son to his Friday afternoon writing class and on the way home, I saw the above sign. The sign is at the location where we've bought Christmas trees for the past couple of years. Last year, we delayed picking out the tree until a week or so before Christmas Day. The kids love picking out trees and each child determines which tree they would like--some opinions stronger than others. And we as parents, try to limit the height, width, and girth of the tree to one we can afford.

We picked out a tree and were about to pay for it when a man who had chosen and bought his tree a few minutes before us came over and said, "I want to buy that tree," and pointed to the one we had just chosen. Since we had picked a number of potential trees, I thought if he really wanted it, that's fine...we'll just choose the next one we eyed. I think I told him it was okay and we'd find another one.

"No," he said a little embarrassed. "You don't understand. I want to buy this tree for you, if that's okay with you guys." It took a second for me to realize what he was doing, that he was buying our tree as a Christmas present to a family he'd never met before and most likely, will never meet again (at least in this life...). He paid the bill, joined his family in their big Chevy truck--complete with a University of Utah sticker on the back window--and drove away (University of Utah fans are among the best fans in the world, by the way...). Even though we've been blessed by bigger presents in the past, it was one of the coolest things that someone has ever done for our family.

I hope this year I can remember this act, and who knows? Maybe we'll be able to do something similar this year. After all, A Utah man am I...