Day 13 | Advent Calendar

No Star in All the Heavens by Russ Towne

The story of the star that sits atop our Christmas tree goes back over nearly forty years. I was a young single man whose business was failing. Finances were very tight. I had enough money to buy a Christmas tree but not enough for ornaments or other decorations. A young woman who I was dating at the time saw how bare the tree looked. She made a big star out of a piece of cardboard she’d cut out herself and then wrapped in aluminum foil. It sure looked good on top of my nearly-bare tree! A year later that young woman became my wife.
That star has sat in the place of honor on all of our Christmas trees. During the good years it reminds us of times when things weren’t so good, and during rough years it reminds us that bad times don’t last forever. But most of all, it reminds us as to how blessed we are to have the love of our family and friends.

Over the years the star became ragged-looking and has often been repaired by adding still more aluminum foil and tape. My wife sometimes suggests that we replace it with a store-bought tree-top ornament, but I can’t bring myself to do it, because to me no star in all the heavens is more beautiful than the one that sits atop our tree.

---

Author Bio:

Russ lives with his wife in Campbell, California, USA. They’ve been married since 1979; have three adult children, and three grandsons. In addition to enjoying his family and friends, and his dual passions for investing and writing, Russ loves to spend time in nature, especially near rivers and streams that run through giant redwood groves, and near beautiful beaches. He loves watching classic movies, reading, and his small fern garden and redwood grove. Russ manages the investments of the wealth management firm he founded in 2003.

Russ first became an author in 2013 and has published twenty-nine books that can all be found on Amazon.com. Check out his Amazon Author’s Page at https://www.amazon.com/author/russtowne.

The titles of the books he has written or compiled, published, and released include:

Non-Fiction
Honest, Honey, That’s How It Happened
Reflections from the Heart of a Grateful Man A compilation of From the Heart of a Grateful Man & Reflections of a Grateful Man
From the Heart of a Grateful Man
Reflections of a Grateful Man
Slices of Life An anthology of the selected non-fiction stories of several writers.

Fiction
It Was Her Eyes A novella
Palpable Imaginings An anthology of stories by several writers in various genres.
Touched Short stories and flash fiction

Poetry
Kaleidoscope
Tickletoe Tree Poetry Humorous rhyming story poems for children and those who are young at heart.
Heart Whispers An anthology of the selected works of over 20 poets.

Books for Young Children

The Beach that Love Built

A Day in the Shade of a Tickletoe Tree

The Grumpadinkles

Zach and the Toad Who Rode a Bull

Misty Zebracorn

V. G. and Dexter Dufflebee

Ki-Gra’s REALLY, REALLY BIG Day!

The Duck Who Flew Upside Down

Clyde and Friends

Clyde and Hoozy Whatzadingle

Clyde and I Help a Hippo to Fly

Rusty Bear and Thomas Too

Clyde and I

Russ has four blogs:
A Grateful Man (nonfiction uplifting posts) http://russtowne.com
A Grateful Man’s Poetry http://agratefulmanspoetry.com
Imaginings of a Grateful Man (fictional short stories) http://imaginingsofagratefulman.com
Clyde and Friends (About writing children’s stories) http://clydeandfriends.com