In the December-January issue of Our Canada magazine, Leonard Visinski shared the story of two blue spruces he decorates every Christmas to commemorate the passing of his son and his neighbour's father. We also published an excerpt from a poem Leonard wrote about the experience. Here is the poem in its entirety.

I Lit a Tree

In memory of your Dad I lit a tree
It’s on your land for you to see
I hope this gesture brings you peace and joy
Because with your Dad is our first boy

I found this tree one fine fall day
It stands in your field in a little bay
I didn’t know why that tree stood out
But in my mind there was no doubt

That little spruce should glow at night
Until the dawn of morning light
So I stretched a cord to reach the bay
Not knowing this was such an important day

I placed the lights upon the tree
And I waited until the sun would flee
That evening as the dark drew near
The reason why, started to come clear

The first night it glowed was a year gone by
When your Dad had said his final goodbye
I did not realize the connection at first
But when I did I wrote this verse

The power that feeds your Dads’ special tree
Is fed from a source that is dear to us you see
We have a blue spruce in our side yard
That was planted in memory of Tim in deep regard

Tims’ special tree was lit this year in blue
In memory of our son who has moved on too
Both trees are lit the same time of day
And shine until the night goes away.

I don’t know why this little gesture grew
We just hope it brings peace and joy to you.
For everything that we do and say
There is a reason why we do it that way

By Len Visinski
Dec. 9,2005