Barb's Wishing Tree
Barb and her Wishing Tree in La Mesa (San Diego)
Barb Fischer’s cancer diagnosis came as a shock to herself as well as her family and friends. There was no warning, and no preparation for what it means to get a stage IV breast cancer diagnosis. A neighbor, Claudia Erickson, had her own brush with breast cancer a couple of years ago and wanted to help.
Knowing Barb has some family but lives alone she didn't want her to battle this evil monster without a good support system in place. Having read Psychologist Susan Pinker’s book “The Village Effect:How Face-to-face Contact Can Make Us Healthier, Happier, And Smarter” Claudia learned about the importance of social support and its possible impact on cancer survival rates. This close-knit community was searching for ways to lend support and came up against road blocks due to Barb’s compromised immune system and pandemic restrictions.
Amazingly, the answer came from a Christmas Tree farm in nearby Ramona. Raffaela Sepe and her family own the farm and shared with Claudia their Naples tradition, where people leave their wishes on a Christmas tree in the center of town. “The angels sense when the tree is full and come to grant the wishes that are good for people. Any bad wishes are blown away,” says Raffaela.
Wishing Tree, Naples Italy
Claudia jumped at the chance to adapt this concept for Barb. The rest of the community lined up for the chance to send well wishes and relieve Barb of some stress in decorating for the holidays while going through chemotherapy. Immediately decorating parties started to form and then the fear of too many people gathering set in. Once again this determined community found an answer. Neighbor and local physician Carrie, had the brilliant idea to organize “Barb’s 24 Days of Christmas” — each individual picked a day to add decorations or leave a surprise (fuzzy socks, a wreath, a book, tea basket etc) on Barb’s door step.
The Wishing Tree is set up outside Barb’s house where passersby continue to leave ornaments, notes of encouragement and children’s drawings. A secret laminating elf comes by every few days to collect the decorated cards to protect them from the elements. Barb reads her cards each night and feels the love and support of her community. Claudia and her San Diego neighbors sincerely hope that wishing trees will pop up everywhere providing support and connection to those in need.
As we are gearing up for National Day of Unplugging 2021, we can see that Wishing Trees are a safe and meaningful way for communities around the world to rally together any time of the year. If you get one going in your community, please send us pics!!
Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree, Hong Kong
Barb’s Wishing Tree helped to solve a dilemma for Claudia and her company “The Unplugged Village” whose mission was founded on in-person gatherings. How do we stay connected during the Covid 19 pandemic? Over the past few months Claudia got creative and brought her community lantern decorating for the elderly and Purple Haze craft kits (a craft cocktail kit themed in reference to the purple tier of lockdown). Check out our Holiday Gathering Playbook for details!
The Unplugged Village has also initiated the beginnings of a Gnome Trail in the local Ramona Valley Wine Region. As we dive once again into a state of lockdown this month, the gnomes are taking a long winter's nap. The Gnome Trails will hopefully be back in action by spring 2021, just in time for National Day of Unplugging. Scavenger hunts are a great way to have fun and stay unplugged. We love featuring individuals and companies like Unplugged Village. Know of a person or community you think we should feature in our upcoming newsletters? Please send their info our way.
