Points2Ponder By Alan P. Scaglione

“ToTreeOrNotToTree? An EmptyNester’s Guide Thru The Holidays!

 Points2Ponder

Empty Nesters Dilemma: To Tree or NOT2TREE? That is the question!

Any empty nesters out there looking at a 12 inch fake tree or better yet…a ceramic tree?

Maybe you decided to just hang a string of clear lights on your corner ficus tree—I can see it now!

Those life changing decisions we never thought we would have to make…

What to do with Christmas AFTER the kids are gone?

I have talked to a few empty nesters out there. Here is my polling of a few:

-         “We aren’t putting up a tree. No one comes over anyway. We will just go to the kids’ houses and celebrate there!”

-         “We pulled out our artificial 12 inch table tree. That’s all we need. It’s the same thing, right?”

-         “We have my mother’s old ceramic table Christmas tree with lights inserted in the branches of the tree—they even light up!”

You get the picture—most of the empty nesters have decided to forego the age old ritual of the Christmas Tree… in exchange for…what?

We all have the memories of Christmases past.

Our family has always had a live tree. There’s a reason for that.

When I was young, we were so poor that we had the “12 inch, lights already in the branches, sorry excuse for a Christmas Tree” tree.

Now I realize-- it’s all we could afford. My parents would literally count their spare change to see how the week would unfold.

We had a home, we had food, they had jobs… didn’t have much else…oh yeah, two older brothers who always confiscated my presents! LOL!

I was about 10 years old when someone must have bought a new Christmas tree because…they were throwing out the remnants of their old tree!

I had my first experience with dumpster diving that day…and I didn’t care—I was getting me a Christmas tree to put up.

Did I mention that it was silver! Yep! Remember the silver ones with the rotator light projection? Well…apparently, they kept that part.

This was only the pole and branches—and only 23 of those! There were 39 holes. I remember counting the holes and then counting the branches and wondering?

“Why didn’t they throw out all the branches? What am I gonna do with the remaining 16 holes?”

Oh the things a 10 year old had to figure out for himself!

Did I mention that they threw out a string of c9 outside lights with the tree! They were multi-colored!

You guessed it—on they went!

Silver tree, 23 branches, 13 exposed open holes, and a string of c9 colored lights!

Priceless!

And that, my friends…was my Christmas tree for the rest of my youth!

I used to make myself one promise each year when I put the tree up. I would always say, ”When I grow up, I’m gonna always have a live tree!”

And I can tell you….we always did! Every year! No matter how many times the tree fell in the middle of the night(always seemed to happen at our house!)

All because a 10 year old had to learn to make do with a thrown out tree…to celebrate Christmas!

 POINTS2PONDER  How much of our Christmas traditions are rooted in a childhood experience or memory? Why does it shape our holiday traditions?

Since we became “empty nesters”, we have tried the “mini-me tree”, the “artificial tree” and last year…the “not gonna put up a tree” year!

And each year, I remembered the promise I made to that little 10 year old boy, and I tried to reason away not keeping that promise.

But… it never worked. Always felt like I let him down, in some way…even though, our kids now have their own homes and are making their “own” traditions.

Still…what does it cost to keep a promise to a 10 year old?

Apparently, $29.95 plus tax!

YEP—we got a LIVE one!

And I am sure…it’s gonna fall at least once this season!