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The Perfect Tree by Donna Bacarella

2005 Michigan Holiday Memory Contest Grand Prize Winner!

I grew up on the East side of the State, and recall very few memorable family holiday traditions, but there is one that will never be forgotten, although, thank God, it has changed dramatically over the years. Each Christmas season, our father would place a very ugly, plastic, BIG, lighted Santa Claus head on the peak of our bungalow house, which he then framed with lights -- some years all blue, other years, multi-colored. Of course, as children, my five siblings and I loved seeing that Santa go up, because it meant that the real Santa would be able to find our house on December 24, and deliver all the presents we anxiously waited for. Our Christmas tree stood proudly in our front window, for all the world to see, which, for a few years, was a terrible embarrassment to me and my siblings. Always attempting to go with the trend of the year, instead of a freshly-cut, tall, fat, traditional, green tree, my father bought a shiny aluminum, scrawny, sorry excuse for a Christmas tree, and a revolving light wheel that stood on the floor in our very crowded living room and, as it turned and played Christmas music, reflected several different colors on the already pathetically ugly aluminum "tree".

Christmas didn't feel (or look) like Christmas those years. Once I grew up, married and moved away from home, my husband and I decided that there would be no artificial trees for our family, and when we moved, twenty years ago, to beautiful West Michigan, we were delighted to find wonderful tree farms where, as a family, we could search for and cut down the perfect tree! It quickly became family tradition and continues even now, that those family members who still live in West Michigan, wait until there is snow on the ground, gather together for brunch on the appointed morning, and then caravan to our favorite tree farm to search, in earnest, for that perfect tree. Two of my four sons have moved to other states, and have families of their own. They lament each year that there are no tree farms nearby (especially in Arizona) with which to carry on the Michigan tradition. Our local family includes little ones again (six kids under five) and daughters-in-law, one who was born and raised in New Zealand (where Christmas happens in the summer!). This year, she and my son will take their new baby (who will be born any day now) to the tree farm, because it's just part of our tradition. There will be pictures, of course, and having everyone there is part of the the memory-making that we do. It's a wonderful, special part of Christmas in Michigan, and as the Grandma of my family, it makes me happy to see my sons and their families place importance, enjoy, and continue the tradtion that began when they were babies.

Posted/updated Dec 12, 2005
by Andrew McFarlane (Absolute Michigan)