Valentine Tree

It's February, time to put up the Valentine tree.  When I was a child, my mother made a Valentine tree out of an old lilac branch, painted white with her nurses' shoe polish, and decorated with construction paper hearts. I have a little white branch tucked into a flower pot in my home office that seems to change appearance with the season and my whims.  In celebration of my mom and those fun Valentine's Days gone by, I've made a Valentine tree out of my little white branch.  It's such a simple thing, but each time I look at it, it makes me smile.  I can see Mom carefully painting the lilac branch and cutting out the red construction paper hearts  to hang from the tree. I can see the finished product displayed on one of the antique chests in our living room.   It's been nearly 50 years since Mom made Valentine trees for our home, but each time I look at the one in my home office, I am a little girl all over again.