FTV: The Christmas Tree

This was written in early 2000. We were 4 years away from having the
Yowlet, Shmogg & Fluff were still with us (the other Grandcat was Sir
Robert the Cute, my sister's cat) - now all at RB. We no longer have
this tree, as it broke in 2003. We have a new tree with embedded optical
fibre lights and a whole bunch of new Yowlet-proof plastic decorations
because the old glass ones were far too dangerous. But we still have
Fairy. I let Cary put Fairy on top of the new tree, and we have a new
generation of clumsily-made but much loved decorations to hang on our
tree next to the ones of a similar style my sister & I made when we were
about the same age. I believe that Christmas trees are the embodiment of
the 'magic' inherent in a Christmas spent with family.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE - January 2000

A bit late, I know, but other stuff has been going on....

My family came to Australia in February 1975. When we arrived we lived
in a migrant hostel. The first year, we couldn't afford a Christmas
tree, or decorations, so we spent a day cutting up newspaper and making
newspaper chains for our hostel room. Although not "pretty" in the
regular sense, it served to remind the family about Christmas and
despite 2 adults and 2 kids under 6 living in one room without running
water, Christmas still had that magic.

Mum had put a plastic tree and some meagre decorations on lay-buy that
December. Apparently the tree and the decorations were worth a week's
wages, and it took her a whole year to pay off. But by the next year,
Mum & Dad had bought a house and we had a Christmas Tree to add to the
magic of Christmas.

Every year that tree has been put up in the same place in parent's
house. Each year, we've added some tinsel, some baubles. The fairy on
the top has always been the same, and although Mum bought a star one
year, the amount of grief my sister & I gave Mum about it meant that
Fairy stayed on top of the tree. Fairy was the last thing we put on the
tree, and it was a big deal to be the one to do it. Oh, the arguments!
The disputes have gone on for years and finally Mum made a roster to
solve it. But its only been recently that Mum, Liz and I have admitted
that it didn't matter who put Fairy on the tree, we all used to sneak
out in the dead of night, lift her off and put her back on so that we
could be the *last* person to have put her on the tree. We all did this
until the tree was taken down again, and nobody knew that the other two
were doing it!

The tree has been put up for 23 years in a row, in the same spot, with
the same fairy on top. Its look has changed from an almost bare tree, to
a tree that can barely support the weight of all the tinsel, decorations
and lights, but the same tree has been there for all the family, every year.

Early last year (99) Mum said that since us kids have long moved away,
she thought that putting up the tree was kind of pointless now, and
besides, it just makes her sad that she's now got an empty nest (she
desperately wants grandchildren - but we remind her she's already got 2
grand-cats and a grand-dog!)

Mum gave the tree and the decorations and the Fairy to me. I didn't have
Fluffy at the time and was thrilled. But then Fluffy came into our lives
and she has the capacity to destroy everything not tied down, especially
an old plastic Christmas tree. Joel made the sensible decision that the
tree wasn't going to go up this year.

But come Christmas eve, and I was in a dilemma. Although I knew about
Fluffy's remarkable ability to destroy everything it seemed such a shame
to break the 23 year old tradition. I'm a real sentimental person at
heart and although it was more than logical to forgo the tree, I
couldn't possibly imagine saying to my own children "this tree has been
in our family for 40 years, and has been put up every year since 1976,
except for 1999 when we had a dog". No the tree had to be put up, no
matter what, even if only to come down an hour later.

The tree had to go up in a room with a door, so we could keep Fluffy
out. Joel offered up his room as its bigger and has a powerpoint in a
sensible spot. We spent Christmas eve putting up my Family's tree, and I
told him the story behind some of the baubles that either my sister or I
had made, the story of why the tree is bent to one side (Snoopy tried to
bungy jump from that side) and the rest of the traditional stories. The
odd thing was, that until that point, it didn't feel like Christmas at
all. The tree used to go up on December the 13th (12 days before
Christmas) but I think I'll change that to Christmas eve. We had a
wonderful, magic, family time, the honour of
keeping some traditions, the pleasure of making some new ones, and it
made Christmas eve very special for the both of us.

When we finished decorating, and Joel let me put Fairy on top without an
argument (God bless him), we sat back and turned the lights on and just
sat, admiring the tree with all the memories of Christmas past, with
all the potential of Christmas future. I'm not doing justice to the
moment at all, but somewhere, somehow, I knew I was going to have many
more magical Christmases with Joel.

Shmogg wandered in. I was expecting him to bat at the baubles and ruin
some of the lower branches, especially after reading all the other tails
about how Christmas Trees and cats don't mix. But even Shmogg somehow
sensed the majesty of the moment, and sat and looked at the tree with a
kitty reverence all his own. After showing his respects, he walked under
the tree, sniffed the presents, and decided that he'd make a great
present too. Not once did he try to bat or chase or claw at anything.

Fluffy was brought in as well, although we kept a firm hold on her
collar. She's big now and could wipe out the whole thing in seconds. But
she too must have sensed the quiet dignity of the moment, and also sat
to admire the tree. She didn't even try to oust Shmogg from under the tree.

My Christmas was complete. My immediate family, two-foot and four-foot
had paid their respects to my family's history and all of us had
marvelled at how something so simple as a decorated tree can inspire the
whole meaning of Christmas in our hearts.

Joel took the tree down after we came back from Chapmas, three days
later. He did it himself, without telling me, because he knew I'd be
very sad if I had to do it myself. He was right of course. But the
Christmas tree was there when it needed to be, there are now 24 years of
tradition associated with Christmas, and we felt that little spark of
Christmas magic that we needed to make it a special time of year. It was
a Christmas to remember, and would have still been, even if my sister
hadn't surprised us with her wedding.

I hope all your Christmases are as special as the one I just had.

God Bless,

Vicky, Joel, Shmoggleberry and Fluffy.
And The Yowlet (known as Cary) Pickle, Suki and Pepper. And the fish.

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
This was written in early 2000. We were 4 years away from having the
Yowlet, Shmogg & Fluff were still with us (the other Grandcat was Sir
Robert the Cute, my sister's cat) - now all at RB. We no longer have this
tree, as it broke in 2003. We have a new tree with embedded optical fibre
lights and a whole bunch of new Yowlet-proof plastic decorations because
the old glass ones were far too dangerous. But we still have Fairy. I let
Cary put Fairy on top of the new tree, and we have a new generation of
clumsily-made but much loved decorations to hang on our tree next to the
ones of a similar style my sister & I made when we were about the same
age. I believe that Christmas trees are the embodiment of the 'magic'
inherent in a Christmas spent with family.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE - January 2000

A bit late, I know, but other stuff has been going on....

My family came to Australia in February 1975. When we arrived we lived in
a migrant hostel. The first year, we couldn't afford a Christmas tree, or
decorations, so we spent a day cutting up newspaper and making newspaper
chains for our hostel room. Although not "pretty" in the regular sense, it
served to remind the family about Christmas and despite 2 adults and 2
kids under 6 living in one room without running water, Christmas still had
that magic.

Mum had put a plastic tree and some meagre decorations on lay-buy that
December. Apparently the tree and the decorations were worth a week's
wages, and it took her a whole year to pay off. But by the next year, Mum
& Dad had bought a house and we had a Christmas Tree to add to the magic
of Christmas.

Every year that tree has been put up in the same place in parent's house.
Each year, we've added some tinsel, some baubles. The fairy on the top has
always been the same, and although Mum bought a star one year, the amount
of grief my sister & I gave Mum about it meant that Fairy stayed on top of
the tree. Fairy was the last thing we put on the tree, and it was a big
deal to be the one to do it. Oh, the arguments! The disputes have gone on
for years and finally Mum made a roster to solve it. But its only been
recently that Mum, Liz and I have admitted that it didn't matter who put
Fairy on the tree, we all used to sneak out in the dead of night, lift her
off and put her back on so that we could be the *last* person to have put
her on the tree. We all did this until the tree was taken down again, and
nobody knew that the other two were doing it!

The tree has been put up for 23 years in a row, in the same spot, with the
same fairy on top. Its look has changed from an almost bare tree, to a
tree that can barely support the weight of all the tinsel, decorations and
lights, but the same tree has been there for all the family, every year.

Early last year (99) Mum said that since us kids have long moved away, she
thought that putting up the tree was kind of pointless now, and besides,
it just makes her sad that she's now got an empty nest (she desperately
wants grandchildren - but we remind her she's already got 2 grand-cats and
a grand-dog!)

Mum gave the tree and the decorations and the Fairy to me. I didn't have
Fluffy at the time and was thrilled. But then Fluffy came into our lives
and she has the capacity to destroy everything not tied down, especially
an old plastic Christmas tree. Joel made the sensible decision that the
tree wasn't going to go up this year.

But come Christmas eve, and I was in a dilemma. Although I knew about
Fluffy's remarkable ability to destroy everything it seemed such a shame
to break the 23 year old tradition. I'm a real sentimental person at heart
and although it was more than logical to forgo the tree, I couldn't
possibly imagine saying to my own children "this tree has been in our
family for 40 years, and has been put up every year since 1976, except for
1999 when we had a dog". No the tree had to be put up, no matter what,
even if only to come down an hour later.

The tree had to go up in a room with a door, so we could keep Fluffy out.
Joel offered up his room as its bigger and has a powerpoint in a sensible
spot. We spent Christmas eve putting up my Family's tree, and I told him
the story behind some of the baubles that either my sister or I had made,
the story of why the tree is bent to one side (Snoopy tried to bungy jump
from that side) and the rest of the traditional stories. The odd thing
was, that until that point, it didn't feel like Christmas at all. The tree
used to go up on December the 13th (12 days before Christmas) but I think
I'll change that to Christmas eve. We had a wonderful, magic, family time,
the honour of
keeping some traditions, the pleasure of making some new ones, and it made
Christmas eve very special for the both of us.

When we finished decorating, and Joel let me put Fairy on top without an
argument (God bless him), we sat back and turned the lights on and just
sat, admiring the tree with all the memories of Christmas past, with all
the potential of Christmas future. I'm not doing justice to the moment at
all, but somewhere, somehow, I knew I was going to have many more magical
Christmases with Joel.

Shmogg wandered in. I was expecting him to bat at the baubles and ruin
some of the lower branches, especially after reading all the other tails
about how Christmas Trees and cats don't mix. But even Shmogg somehow
sensed the majesty of the moment, and sat and looked at the tree with a
kitty reverence all his own. After showing his respects, he walked under
the tree, sniffed the presents, and decided that he'd make a great present
too. Not once did he try to bat or chase or claw at anything.

Fluffy was brought in as well, although we kept a firm hold on her collar.
She's big now and could wipe out the whole thing in seconds. But she too
must have sensed the quiet dignity of the moment, and also sat to admire
the tree. She didn't even try to oust Shmogg from under the tree.

My Christmas was complete. My immediate family, two-foot and four-foot had
paid their respects to my family's history and all of us had marvelled at
how something so simple as a decorated tree can inspire the whole meaning
of Christmas in our hearts.

Joel took the tree down after we came back from Chapmas, three days later.
He did it himself, without telling me, because he knew I'd be very sad if
I had to do it myself. He was right of course. But the Christmas tree was
there when it needed to be, there are now 24 years of tradition associated
with Christmas, and we felt that little spark of Christmas magic that we
needed to make it a special time of year. It was a Christmas to remember,
and would have still been, even if my sister hadn't surprised us with her
wedding.

I hope all your Christmases are as special as the one I just had.

God Bless,

Vicky, Joel, Shmoggleberry and Fluffy.
And The Yowlet (known as Cary) Pickle, Suki and Pepper. And the fish.

That is beautiful, Yowie. Thank you for reposting it.

Joy