The First and Last Time We Bought a Real Christmas Tree

I’ll never forget the first time we bought a real Christmas tree. We had just moved into a new city and my mom wanted to do something really special for the holidays since we were in an unfamiliar place. She took my brother and I to the local tree farm and we spent a good amount of time sifting through all of the different types of Christmas trees. We finally came to an agreement on what my mind thought was the perfect tree! It was the most beautiful evergreen, full figured, pine pungent Christmas tree I had ever seen.

As my mother made the final arrangements for the purchase, the associates working started to hoister the tree on the roof of the car. We had a small Nissan Sentra at the time and as the tree was being secured, we all came to realize that the tree was in fact much larger than we had expected. It exceeded the length of the car and the weight added pressure that made our family vehicle resemble that of a packed clown car. Once it was secured the associates mentioned it would be best that my brother and I hold onto the strings inside of the vehicle to help secure the tree to the roof. I was young and I highly doubted that my fragile hands and weak arms would secure anything, but we did as we were told. The image of my brother and I latching onto dear life still burns in my mind. I mean, being responsible for such a huge task was a lot of pressure and I am sure that was moment that birthed my anxiety.

As we pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street everything started to go smoothly, until the increased speeds began ruffling the tree back and forth. Being the dramatic and easily overwhelmed person I was, I told my mom that the tree was going to fall. I began to cry and shout “WE NEED TO PULL OVER!” However, she eased my worry and told me that everything was going to be okay. Oh.... but boy was she wrong! Less than 60 seconds later the strings snapped, my eyes widened and my brother and I stared at each other mouthing the ultimate curse word, F**K! My fingers tried to grab the string but it slipped through the cracks of the car door at lightning speed. My mom asked us what was wrong and my brother yelled “THE TREE, THE TREE!” It was like a scene from the Johnson Family Vacation. Moments later the tree darted off the back off our roof onto the street. Luckily there was no one driving behind us!

We pulled over immediately and my mom hopped out of the car and ran into the street to drag the tree out of the middle of the road. Remnants of the tree were all over the place. My brother and I both began wailing, screaming Christmas was ruined. I’m not sure how my mother handled our overly dramatic personalities looking back. She eventually got the tree to the side of the road, unable to put it back on our roof, resulting in us leaving it there. We all jumped back into the car and went right back to the tree farm explaining the situation. The associates were kind enough to deliver a new tree to us instead of having us repeat the same tragedy and add to our PTSD.

Finally, the tree got delivered to our home safely and we gathered around to decorate it in rich gold, silver and red tones. We laughed at our experience and my mother mocked my brother and I the entire evening.

That was the first and last time we bought a real Christmas tree.