By Alvin A. Alm
FOR THE PINE JOURNAL
Published by the American Christmas Tree Journal, November 1982. Reprinted by permission of the Cloquet author.
Several years ago my parents, who are quite elderly, stopped setting a Christmas tree up in their house. They said that they were too old for one anymore. I suspected the real reason was that it was too hard for them to get out to purchase one. So this past year I cut a tree and brought it to them as we shared Christmas together. Both my parents were extremely excited and happy about it.
I did not realize how big a hit the tree actually made until later in January when my 85-year-old mother sent me a story she had written about it. Here it is:
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The Little Christmas Tree
I am a balsam fir. I am only about five feet tall and was not taken when the bigger trees were cut. But, then one day two weeks before Christmas a man came and wrapped twine around me. He cut me, picked me up, carried me to a car, and put me in the car trunk. Then we went for a ride. When we got to his house, he took me out and stood me up against the wall in his garage.
I stayed there until the day before Christmas. Then the man came again with his family. They tried to put me in the trunk of the car but I did not fit because it was full of packages. So they laid me on top of the car and tied me on. We drove for a long time until we came to another house. It was cold on top of that car and it snowed all of the time.
They brought me in the house and carried me down to the basement so my branches would thaw. In the morning they sawed off part of my trunk and put me in a tree stand. They had quite a time because the stand was made for a tree a lot bigger than me. But, they finally got me all tightened up and standing straight. Then they carried me upstairs and dressed me with fancy light bulbs, hunt tinsel on me and put a star right at my very top. There were a lot of presents placed under my branches and soon more people came into the house. Everyone was very happy that night because it was Christmas Eve. The presents were all opened. Several of the people said that I was sure a pretty little tree.
The next day everyone left except old grandma and grandpa and I was afraid that I would be forgotten. But everyday the grandma would check my watering tray and always kept it full so my branches would not dry out. She turned my lights on every night, sometimes for a short time but then again for a long time. Some of my bulbs would burn out but she would always replace them. Almost everyone who came to visit the old people during the holiday season asked them where they had gotten such a beautiful little tree. I was very proud and it was a happy home to be in.
But then shortly after News Year's Day I had to be undressed and taken down. The old grandma worked hard to get me out of the stand. She almost gave up but then finally I came loose. I had been careful not to drop any needles because the grandma had been good to me and kept me watered all of the time. So she did not have any mess at all to clean up. She put me out on a cold porch and the next day a man came and took me to a park where a lot of other trees lay. But I think I was the prettiest tree there. My life as a Christmas tree was very short but it was worth it because I made the grandma and grandpa so happy.
