Time for the Christmas Tree

Today is the traditional date of the Christmas Tree decoration.

As I work on this today, I’m thinking of my Mom and all the fun she & I used to have at this time of year.

Sugar Cookies, in happy holiday shapes. The infamously alcoholic fruitcakes that Mom always made. 

Popcorn and construction paper chains for decorations around the tree and the house.

The joy when a new package materialized under the tree and wondering what to get Mom. 

See for a number of years it was just Mom & I. Sure on Thanksgiving or Christmas we’d have the relatives over but mostly it was about us. 

We had a ball!

Ornaments, memories, Black & White TV. 

I remember the address to the first house I lived in.

When I google it, it’s all different. The house got modified at some point in the past 35 years the owners enclosed the carport making it a small one car garage. The trees that I remember tending as saplings are all gone, as is a larger tree that used to be in the front yard. The grand old oak in the backyard is still standing. From the Street view I can see the room that my parents occupied for a time.

The neighborhood is, of course all different now.

One constant is that I can find using Google is the elementary and the middle school. Both were attached to each other via a common lunchroom facility so they occupy a large chunk of space that’s easily visible. 

I remember navigating home from both of them. I walked across a golf course and usually with a group of friends. Unless I got detention. Then I’d be walking alone. 

Both the schools look the same as they do in my memory.

There’s something comforting in that.