Tree or no tree

[luangtom]

Nope. No tree. Have not now for a number of years. Both kids left the nest and it was not much of a thing for us. No outside decorations either. Christmas Eve family service and Midnight Mass. That is the extent of our Christmas now. Both of us are fairly decrepit and do not need the hassle.

 

[quikdraw67]

My Christmas tree is about 11 inches high and takes a 40 watt lightbulb.

A ceramic tree made by one of Mrs. QD67's friend's mothers.

There's a backstory to Christmas in my family.

My oldest brother, who got me into shooting and was a very serious S&W revolver collector, killed himself on Christmas Day 2003. His son found him the following day.

I was the one who had to break the news to our parents.

As you can imagine, Christmas became a difficult day to celebrate in my family.

Yet, my Mom still put up a tree and lights on the house.
This continued until she sold the house and moved into an elderly hi-rise in January 2011.

So then, we bought an artificial tree and put it up every year at my house. We had to be careful with the cats regarding the tree and the train, but otherwise we enjoyed it. I will confess it was fun to have an excuse to put up my train set. But I did it for my Mom.

She's been in a nursing home since January 2018. So there was no point IMHO to put up a tree, since she can't be here.

It is what it is.

 

[jbtrucker]

I have a ceramic lighted tree sister gifted me years ago and set up a Christmas cards. One from my parents and another sent from a cousin before she passed away from cancer.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

We do the full Monty. Inside and out. We usually start about two weeks before Christmas.

All of us here, especially the kids, love the Christmas season and we squeeze all the fun and joy we can out of it.

We have a fake tree as our 9 cats would reduce a real one to splinters. Using unbreakable ornaments is key.

Let the merriment begin.

Rusty, our daughter does the "full Monty" and she buys oranges and uses the peel to keep the cat out from under the tree. She says it works great and has been doing it for several years.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Rustyt1953]

Rusty, our daughter does the "full Monty" and she buys oranges and uses the peel to keep the cat out from under the tree. She says it works great and has been doing it for several years

Having nine, I would have to plant a grove.

 

[BigBill]

We get a small live tree with a ball(roots) bring it in Christmas Eve decorate it, after Christmas Day undress it and plant it.

My mom had a small fake evergreen tree in a box uprite all decorated. She took it out plugged in, waited for russian or little Christmas then back in the box it went.

My cats think everything is their toy. I'm down to six cats now. I take in abondoned kittens. Or dogs that no one wants.

 

[sigp220.45]

I'm on the full Monty train with Rusty. Tree, lights on the house, too many presents.....

I love Christmas and all its trappings. We were one small step above white trash (maybe) growing up but my Dad worked a second job at Goldblatt's department store every year to pay for a good Christmas for his party of nine. We didn't have much the other 364 days of the year, but Christmas was truly wonderful. He's long gone now, but I ain't gonna be the one to let him down.

 

[Kiwi cop]

A Kiwi Christmas

Karen always loved putting up the tree and decorating it, wrapping presents and putting them under the tree. Until her COPD meant that she was too sick to decorate the tree, so we went without for three years.

17th December 2017, exactly 9 months to the day after doctors told me she would not survive her lung transplant and to prepare to discus turning off life support, I watched her put together a new fake tree and decorate it all on her own. I cried that day.

Our tree was put up and decorated by Karen over a week ago. Not too many presents this year. Since Karen's transplant family is more important than the gifts. I'll have a few things to upgrade one of my guitars and some books. Maybe a new shirt or two.

Karen will have books and, if I can get her to agree to pick something out, some jewellery. Ryan will have clothes and a few other items he gets every year.

Traditionally we have spent Christmas day at my MIL's with several generations present, but this year will be the first Christmas since she passed away. I will be patrolling the highways from 7am - 5pm Christmas day, then we will get together in the evening, just the three of us, my SIL and her housemate, for a meal.

Like I said, our family is much more important to us on Christmas day now. But we still have the decorations put up.

 

[BC38]

We've always done a traditional tree since before the boys were born. Probably always will, though I'd be OK with not doing it any more in just a few years, once we're empty-nesters.

 

[wood714]

I've not put up any Christmas decorations since I got divorced in 2010.

All my kids and grand kids live in Cincinnati.

A couple years ago my daughter told me I had to put up a tree and bought me one. I put it out Christmas eve night and take it down Christmas night.

I don't really consider it a tree...Charlie Brown would thou.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Kev, you've lost weight.

 

[Skeet 028]

When I worked in the FD I was on a schedule that had me work 2 of every 3 Christmas. When the daughter was still home my wife (ER nurse) was there for the Christmas thing. We put up a tree but when sh was gone we both worked Christmas..If I was supposed to be off I worked for one of the fellows on the shift working Christmas...usually the ones with kids. Wife did the same at her job. We don't decorate(lived on farms) and where we are now no neighbors.. no reason to decorate trees of house. If I put my addy in to the GPS it keeps taking me somewhere that isn't home. Seriously. Santa whould have a hard time finding us. We do host a big ol meal for friends in church that that don't have family

 

[wood714]

Kev, you've lost weight.

If my quack doctor is right, I'll be loosing a lot more.

I don't think so thou.

 

[twodog max]

We still do the tree and in these troubling times it somehow seems much more important. A small outside light string on the porch. I guess I will keep doing it until I go to the Happy Hunting Ground. We live way out and no one much sees any of it but it matters to us.

 

[rwsmith]

We put up...

A miniature tree. And some decorations. A lot of our stuff is in decrepit shape after 42 years.

 

[Bozz10mm]

After 52 years of marriage, this may be the first year we don't put up a tree. Kind of sad, but it ain't easy for two 70 somethings. Our kids bring the two grandchildren over on Christmas Eve for a couple of hours. We eat, open presents, and they leave. I guess we'll see this year how much they miss the tree...or if they even notice.

 

[soFlaNative]

Came home from work yesterday to find a Hobby Lobby box labeled SLIM ARIZONA FIR 7.5FT 2338 Tips 500 Clear Lights etc.etc. Made in China.
My wife is on the road returning Mom from her Thanksgiving visit so when she returns I'm looking forward to spending time with a lawn chair and a beer while my short round wife festoons the fir crammed into a corner next to the window with a couple inches clearance from wall to ceiling.
I find my jollies where I will.

 

[ZGrand]

After the kids were all gone, we put up a full-sized artificial tree. The past few years though, we've used a small 2-1/2' table top tree.

 

[glenwolde]

We did when the kids were still in the house. We had an artificial one once but didn't care for it. Now about all we do is put up a wall hanging that's the shape of a tree. It was a gift one year.

As a kid we always went to my grandparents for Christmas. Grandmother always bought a live tree and every year we had to go plant it after Christmas. She planted them all in a line and each was a tad taller than the next. It looked a bit odd if you didn't know the story. She got up to twenty-something before she gave it up.

 

[mmb617]

My wife was always into Christmas big time. When our son was little we would go to a tree farm each year to pick out and cut down a real tree. It was always a fun family expedition. When he got older and wasn't interested in that anymore we switched to an artificial tree which was upgraded a few times as the fake trees got more realistic.

My wife was told late in 2016 that it would probably be her last Christmas, but she fooled the doctors and saw two more after that. She really went all out on the decorating those years. Now that she's gone I have no interest in any Christmas decorating and it's just another day to me.