Oh Christmas Tree

It's that time of the year when, at least in this part of the world, many people are putting up their Christmas trees. Personally, I could do without Christmas, but the family likes it.

To be perfectly honest; I don't remember too many Christmas trees as a young child. Oh sure they were there most years. Because I was with my mom one year and my dad the next and they both moved regularly, there just wasn't anything I could consistently remember.

I did remember a couple of trees from Hawaii. Typically, an evergreen-type tree is used for this, but those are exceptionally hard to come by in Hawaii. And they were pretty expensive. While we did a "Christmas Palm" a couple of years, my stepfather "won" a real Christmas tree one year, which of course we put up. But beyond some lights and maybe a few ornaments, none of which I remember particularly, that was that.

Now, with a family, we have boxes of ornaments that my wife has acquired or the kids have made for us over the years. Surely, there are memories associated with each one for my wife and/or kids. I recognize most of the ornaments, of course, but most of them hold little memories for me and just feel overwhelmed by the whole thing.

Maybe forgetting all the Christmas trees is my coping mechanism for that…