I know.

It’s only 27 days to Christmas. Twenty-seven incredibly, unbelievably, impossibly, short days to finish the shopping, send out the cards, wrap the presents, deal with the inevitable last-minute gift for the teacher, the newspaper delivery person, the guy at the train station who always looks the other way when you forget to have your parking ticket validated.

It’s only 27 days to Christmas and if you’re anything like me, well, the idea of having one more thing added to your list is enough to make you crawl under a blanket and pray for summer. But what happens when that one more thing is something so heart-achingly human, something so brimming with meaning, you just have to find a way to fit it in?

Every year, an appropriately gorgeous tree goes up outside the Rhode Island State House and another one in the rotunda. Perhaps at one time or another, you’ve seen them. Big. Bright. Truly a sight to behold.

But this year, there will be another tree at the State House. And it is as special a testament to the spirit of the season as anything I can imagine. It’s called Our Heroes’ Tree. What makes it different is that, with the exception of the white lights and yellow ribbons, every decoration hanging from it will be in honor of a man or woman who has served or is serving our country. And the best part is that each and every one of those ornaments will be made by ordinary people like you and me.

The brainchild of Stephanie Pickup and Marlene Lee, authors of The Soldier’s Tree and The Hero In My Pocket respectively, the first Heroes’ Tree made its appearance at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in December 2005. So fast has the idea spread that this holiday season, Our Heroes’ Tree will stand proudly in locations all around the world, including right here in Rhode Island.

According to Mary Kay Salomone of North Kingstown, founder of Operation Support Our Troops, the tree is a way that Rhode Islanders can honor anyone who has ever served, who has ever answered the call. And Mary Kay does mean anyone, all the way from the fields of Valley Forge and Gettysburg to the beaches at Normandy, the jungles of Southeast Asia and needless to say, the mountains and deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan. “The tree,” says Mary Kay, “provides a strong visual that the American people honor their men and women in uniform.”

Your ornament doesn’t have to be fancy. A paper snowflake with glued-on glitter will do. A photograph of a brother. A sister. A husband. A son. A mother. A newspaper clipping. A snippet of cloth. A short note. A poem. The lyrics to a favorite song. Anything works as long as it expresses what you feel for your hero.

Salomone tells me Our Heroes’ Tree will be located in the State Room with the official lighting for Friday, Dec. 7, immediately following the lighting of its bigger cousins. Suggested arrival time is 5:30 p.m. As it turns out, the date could not bear any more significance, marking 66 years since that fateful day at Pearl Harbor.

Before that day, you can bring your ornament to Room 143 at the State House anytime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. After the tree comes down, your ornament will be placed in the state’s archives so your tribute will live on long after the holiday lights go out.

I know.

It’s only 27 days to Christmas. At a time of year when we go out of our way to recall the little thoughtful things that people in our lives do for us, it makes sense to remember the monumental ones as well. And when you think about these men and women who have so many times in so many far off places walked into the fire for us, what could be bigger than that?

Rita Lussier can be reached at ReetsAL@aol.com or by mail c/o Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain Street, Providence, RI 02902.