One of the first Christmas carols I learned by heart was “O Tannenbaum,” a beloved German folk song written in 1819 as a tribute to the enduring beauty of the country’s evergreen fir trees. The original German lyrics made no mention of Christmas, but I was too young to pay much attention to the words back then. What I found more satisfying was the joy I saw in my mother’s face every time I sang the old song. “That’s your grandfather’s favorite carol,” she’d say.
It didn’t surprise me that Grandfather Jurgen would like a song celebrating Germany’s towering trees. He was as strong and dependable as any one of
