Thoughts.com Blogs - The night Dad moved the Christmas tree

Good grief, I have been taking a walk down memory lane for a few days now.I miss celebrating Christmas as a kid.Once Thanksgiving had passed I knew it was just a matter of days when we would start decorating.There would also be 2 Advent calenders from Germany that my Opa Karli had sent.

My folks really got into the holiday.Dad would get out the lights,dig around for extension cords and get to work.He would get help from our neighbor across the street.Dad and this man looked like Mutt and Jeff next to one another.Dads about the size of a troll and this guy is well over 6' and I suppose that made me a trollette.My job was to untangle and hand them stuff.My biggest job really was to be their beer runner.I made more trips to the fridge than I did really helping.Lights would finally be up,it was no Griswald house,just enough lights so we could oh and ah.

We always got a real tree(made the house smell good)Dad got to do all the Dad stuff like haul it to the car,unload it,saw the trunk,carry it into the house,place it in the stand,put the lights on then he was done.We had the easy job of putting on the ornaments.Our tree looked pretty generic,glass balls,sometimes tinsel sometimes garland,some glass ornaments from Germany and stuff my brother and I had made.The best ornaments on the tree were these hollow chocolate ornaments wrapped in foil.They never lasted til Christmas.

Not much else in the way of decorations.Other than the ugly plastic pointsettia,the plastic holly around this nasty smelling candle and a Christmas card holder that hung on the wall.

Mom never baked,our Christmas cookies were the assorted Archway cookies.No fudge,no divinity though there was always some kind of chocolate candy floating around.

As every year, Christmas eve was spent at Grandmas.Friends would stop in and other family members.Was always a fun time.Some years there would be oyster stew or pickled herring.(I never ate that stuff,as a kid it looked gross)It was a smorgasbord.Assorted meats,cheeses,breads,salads,relish trays nothing too fancy.And of course eggnog and alcohol.Everyone would either eat too much or drink too much.Dad always had a fresh beer in hand.We would exchange gifts.Grandma would play the piano,now smashed people singing Christmas carols is pretty funny.My Dad always made up his own lyrics,usually dirty ones.Besides the dirty ones were better.

We always got home late.Mom would drive us home throw Dad into bed,make us go to bed.Then she would head back to Grandmas to wrap presents.

Christmas morning is finally here.This particular Christmas is different from the rest.I get woke up by my brother he has a worried look on his face."Sandra,the tree is gone,Santa took our tree"."Noway,you must be walking in your sleep".(my brother was a sleep walker)"No come look its gone".So I get up and follow my brother upstairs,hes right the tree is gone.Son of a bitch,were we robbed?Were not sure what to do we've never had our tree stolen.Were not even sure if we should wake up the folks.We decide to go back down stairs,we enter the family room and what do you know.That son of a bitch of a tree is right there.Right there,right damn there and presents woo hoo!!!
Now the both of us are happier than a one legged dog.

Davin goes upstairs to wake our parents.They come downstairs my Dad has a cheesey look on his face.Davins still going on and on about the tree.Dad tells him Santa must of done it.Good enough for my brother,he buys the story.Since I hadnt believed in sometime I knew better.

Mom tells me what happened.She gets back from Grandmas,Dad wakes up and helps her bring in the presents.When their done she said hes just standing there looking at the tree.And tells her I'm gonna move the tree on the kids.She said he unplugged the tree,picked it up and carried it down stairs,didnt even drop an ornament,though he did slosh water all over the place.She was surprized the commotion didnt wake us up,they were both laughing at the evil deed.Damn parents.My Dads done some pretty good pranks on us kids but this was far one of the best.