I looked at my beautiful Christmas tree and sighed. It was time. The New Year was a week old and my tree still stood in the corner of our room with its collection of memories proudly displayed in a shower of colorful lights. I'd procrastinated(,)long enough. I got up, went to the garage and dragged all the boxes into the room. The garland was the first to come down. The tree looked naked already. I took the large ornament off next. They made a large pile on our bed. An hour later, our bed was covered with Christmas memories. Each pile contained an ornament along with its matching brothers and sisters from sets purchased many years ago. I prepared the boxes and carefully placed ornaments in their protective packaging, pausing every few minutes to admire a favorite. "Hey, little Santa!" I held the Santa from my childhood. "Thanks for being my friend for almost fifty years." He was a little ragged but still gives me a flood of wonderful memories. "Until next year, my dear friend." There was a collection of handmade ones. My children made in the their first years of school, more than twenty years ago. Made by tiny hands, they are far from perfect in design, but every year they go on my memory tree-memories of young giggles on Christmas morning and a smiling face when they handed them to me when I came home from work. "Look what we made, Daddy!" "Oh! It is beautiful. Let's find a special spot on the tree for it." Every year since, they are displayed. A few hours after I started, the filled boxes were back in the garage, the room was vacuumed and I sat staring at a barren corner. The room seemed so empty. It took me two days of work to assemble and decorate my tree, but only a few hours to take it apart. My tree is like a good marriage or a great friendship. Like the tree, they take a long time to assemble and decorate with memories, but can be torn down quickly. Every year I have to put my tree away, but not my marriage or friendships. I take great care of those. They get to glow in the corner of my life for as long as I live. I get to analyze my tree and find memories for a few weeks every year. I can do the same with the loves in my life every day. Take great care of your friendships and your marriage. Once they come down, they aren't as easy to put back together as a Christmas tree. Stand them in that special spot in the corner of your heart and admire their glow. In the author's eyes, the Christmas tree  _  .
is a collection of childhood memories is a symbol of long-lasting relations takes too much time to decorate is full of out-of-date ornaments