O Christmas Tree

By Paul Bowen, Seaville.
One of my fondest memories at Christmas, was picking the right Christmas tree. Each year, my dad would begin his search to select the tree for our home. It had to be tall, fat and cedar. He always had three choices for us to choose from. It took a couple hours to select the right tree. We cut our own tree down and put it on top of his truck. We sang Christmas carols on the way home. The one problem was getting the tree in the house. Either it was too wide or too tall. Dad always had to trim off the branches. Then we were able to put it up.
Our next job was to decorate the tree with ornaments, balls, garland and lights. On top of the tree hung a star or angel that signified the birth of Christ. We also put tinsel on the tree to make it sparkle. My mom was the judge of the tree. It pleased her how well we did. My dad took the left over cedar branches and holly to decorate the outside window boxes.
When my dad died, we still carried on the family tradition of putting up a Christmas tree. We went to artificial trees but we missed the freshness of the cedar ones. I still enjoy putting up a tree. I know when the tree is finished that my dad is smiling with pride that I still carry out his tradition. Thanks, Dad.