Christmas Memories

It has been our tradition since I was little to put up our tree as a family. We would go to the Lion's Club tree lot and my sister and I would find just the perfect one. My dad would tie it onto the family wagon and off we'd go. That's where the vision of family bliss ended. We'd get home and he would wrestle with the lights, cursing himself for not putting them away correctly the year before. Once he finally got them untangled and started the process of putting them on, my sister, my mom and I would give him what we considered "gentle direction" in the art of actually placing them on the tree. (it actually is an art!). He would get frustrated at us and we with him for not doing what we said. It always ended the same, an argument. He would raise his voice, my sister would cry, my mom would leave the room and I would stay and offer my commentary, much to my father's dismay. The tree always ended up being a hodge podge of handmade and store bought ornaments with too much tinsel and way too much silver garland. When it was all decorated my sister and I would bicker over whose turn it was to put the star on top. I remember doing this much into my teens and still wanting my dad to put us on his shoulders to place it atop the tree. He always did. What were we thinking? Not exactly the picture of family bliss I'm sure my mother had intended but the thought of it brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. Although we certainly weren't the Cleavers, we are family and in the end that is all that matters.