12/10/2025
Given that our house is currently being renovated, I hadn’t pulled out a single decoration for Christmas. There are very few areas that are untouched by the construction, and even those are mostly filled with stuff from other rooms that had to be moved out of the way.
That being the case, I explained to Brooke that we’d be leaving the decorations boxed up this year, and she seemed to understand. And then she asked when we’d be getting a tree.
I said I wasn’t sure where we could put a tree right now, so we’d probably have to skip it. She was not remotely buying that as an answer. No tree was simply was not an option. So we got creative.
We have a very old, very janky artificial tree that we sometimes put on the second floor landing. Its only purpose, which it serves well, is to shine its light through the upstairs windows. From the street, two floors down, it looks lovely. Up close, well, let’s just say the old girl looks like she’s seen some things.
Yesterday, I crawled my way through the basement, moved 87 boxes, and somehow managed to get that tree out of storage and up the stairs. The process was not pretty, but damnit, I did it. I put it together piece by piece and then plugged it in and … nothing happened.
I texted a photo to Luau: “I got it out of the corner. I got it up the stairs. I put it together. I CANT GET IT TO LIGHT UP.”
When he got home, he flipped the single switch that I didn’t know existed and the janky little tree lit up like … well, a Christmas tree. (Sorry, but it was right there.)
Brooke put a couple of her recently-made handmade ornaments on it, and asked when we’d do the rest. “Katie will put on the angel,” she said.
I texted Katie. Despite her grueling schedule, she immediately said she’d come home tonight to decorate.
As I turned the lights off last night, I took a few minutes to look at the tree. And in its bendy threadbare branches I saw all of the magic that Brooke had willed into existence, my grunt work, Luau’s love and support and pivotal help, and the greatest gift — Katie, coming home so that we can all be together.
So while the tree may be a little wonky and a little worse for the wear, but who among us isn’t?
I dare say, it feels kinda perfect.
{image is a photo of the tree, not yet decorated, but lit up in the dark. It looks really pretty.}
