Holiday

[Coastalcarolina]

As a child in the 60's, we didn't put our tree up until the week before Christmas.  It was a live tree and we knew that this was a special night together with the family.  Dad would lightheartedly fuss about the tangle of lights to be strung.  Mom would prepare a nice meal or light snacks for us.  My two sisters and I would "ooh and ahh" over all the ornaments as we carefully unwrapped each one to be placed on the tree.  We each had our very favorite that was carefully placed on our special selected spot!  Then, we would all have fun placing all that silver tinsel on each branch.  When the lights were turned on it was magical to us.  It wasn't over the top, but was special to us.  Fast forward into the 80's, and I remember the very first time I saw a "themed" tree, I was mesmerized.  I would go back into that store over and over again trying to figure out what it was that made it look so much different than what I had always had.  Kind of a hodgepodge of decorations on mine.  Then I noticed that you had to have alot of the same decorations (very expensive at the time for me), to achieve "the look".  I never could get mine to look the way they did.  Then I found out years later, that the person who decorated those same trees that I loved, was now a salesperson under my husbands management at his place of employment!  I joked with him and said please don't tell her that I can't put together a Christmas tree as well as her!  Some people just have the knack and talent for these things!