Oh Tannenbaum

I don't think there is such a thing as an "easy" Christmas tree. For over 30 years my husband and I had a real Christmas tree in our home for the holiday season and in the home of my childhood there was always a real Christmas tree. I even recall both sets of grandparents and all my aunts and uncles having real Christmas trees on the years we visited them. My paternal grandfather set the bar for Christmas tree perfection. He would find the best tree to be had in east Texas and then take it home and make it better by drilling holes in the trunk in areas he deemed too sparse and inserting additional branches - a "Franken-tree" of sorts.

Upon becoming an empty-nester the thrill of finding the perfect tree was replaced by the drudge of having to decorate it by myself. There was no one to drink hot cocoa with, no one to listen to Christmas music with, and no one to assist with the work of stringing hundreds (thousands?) of lights on the tree or to help place all of the ornaments, or reminisce about where each ornament had come from. So last year I did the unthinkable, I bought an artificial tree. My children were horrified, but since these were the same children who no longer helped put up the tree or take down the tree their vote didn't count.

Last year I unpacked the new, pre-lit tree, hung a limited number of ornaments on it, and told myself it would grow on me. This year I unpacked the not quite so new, pre-lit tree and wondered why all of the lights no longer worked and why the branches looked so smushed. After hours spent this evening trying to un-smush the branches and figure out the tree's electronic system I decided this artificial tree is just as much work as a real one.

Why do I do it? Why do I continue, year after year, to put up a tree, drag out all of the ornaments and decorations and exhaust myself with holiday decorating only to have to take it all down in thirty days? I ask myself this every year, and more so recently when the children are rarely in the house during the month of December.

But I do know the answer. I do it because once it is done, once the tree is up and the house is decorated and the presents are wrapped - I remember my Christmases past, the joy and love and care my mother, my grandmothers and my aunts put into the holiday. I feel the love reach across the generations and I want my children to feel the same thing one day when they are wrestling with their Christmas tree and with the question of why bother. I want them to have special holiday memories and special holiday traditions to share with their families. So it is all about the love, the love I have for my family and the love I hope we all feel toward mankind at this special time of year.

So bring on the tree, I'll figure out the lights, I'll un-smush the branches, and I'll get it decorated all while trying not to grumble about it too much. If my east Texas grandfather could "create" the perfect tree, the least I can do is take mine out of the box, put it together correctly, and be thankful that he'll never know I gave up on the real tree and bought a fake!