Ghosts of Christmas trees past

Originally published December 23, 2016

Ghosts of Christmas trees past

My son arrived for the holidays to find no Christmas tree at my new place. I’m sure it did not faze him. I put up two wreaths, decorated windows with gel clings, found a place to dangle the mistletoe, hung our stockings, and set out more holiday décor.

But I miss it.

So many of my ornaments inspire memories of Christmas trees past

I gave away my artificial Christmas tree as it was too big for the apartment. It found a new home with someone who needed a dose of Christmas cheer.

I shopped around Beaver Dam and online, but could not find a tree I both liked and could afford. I do not want a pre-lit tree, as I prefer the tradition of stringing lights while venting my spleen with colorful phrases.

I came across many of my favorite ornaments while unpacking the other holiday décor.

Nestled away are a pear, two golden hearts and tiny pandas. They represent my first Christmas 20 years ago with my son. My parents gave me an artificial tree before they moved from Michigan to Wisconsin that year. As a single mother still in college, I did not have the budget for enough ornaments to fill the top two-thirds of the tree. (My son could reach the bottom third.) So I dug through my jewelry box and secured a necklace pendant and two pairs of earrings to ornament hooks to help fill the gaps.

The gold balls I splurged on for my first Christmas tree have remained packed away for 13 years. They are not shatterproof, which is a problem with a cat who persists in tree climbing and knocking off ornaments.

Other favorites include hobbyhorse ornaments my mother made when we still lived in White Pine, Michigan. Our Christmas trees there were live, usually decorated with tinsel and C5 lights in addition to our ornaments.

Our first Christmas tree in Colorado was also a live tree, and it was the first year we lived in a house with a fireplace mantel for hanging stockings. It was a bittersweet Christmas, as it was the first year we did not travel to my grandparents’ farm for the holiday.

One year we brought home a flocked Christmas tree and decked it with blue lights and blue bulbs to recreate one of my father’s favorite childhood Christmas trees. After moving back to Michigan, we expanded to two Christmas trees – one in the living room and another in the family room. We decorated one tree with the usual ornaments, and gave my mother no end of grief for her choice to dress up the second tree with fake red apples.

After moving to Ohio and before moving back to Wisconsin again, my mother passed down many of the family ornaments to my sister and me. I have bells made out of beads, a ski jumper with my name engraved on the bottorm and several ornaments with pandas on them, as my family nickname is Amanda Panda.

Ornaments I bought for myself over the years include a candy cane made of copper which reminds me of my father, who spent much of his career working at a copper mine in the Upper Peninsula. I also have an ornament shaped like my beloved U.P.

My son and I will spend Christmas Eve and Day with my mother and stepfather, where there will be a tree to place presents under.

So while my ornaments will remain packed away until next year, my memories remain. And I’m reminded of the lesson the Grinch learned in the Dr. Seuss classic.

“What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”

May you have a safe, healthy and happy holiday weekend.

Merry Christmas.

Original column