It’s the beginning of December and it seems everyone has their Christmas tree already. Pictures of family outings getting trees share my Instagram feed with families lighting Hanukkah candles.
My son put his tree up over the weekend. He mentioned that it’s a little crooked. I said, “Ours is always a little crooked.” And he said, “Yeah, but it’s a little easier when you have two people. One to hold the tree straight.”
Yes, that’s true, I thought. And then I thought of my brother. He used to buy a tree, drag it home because he didn’t drive, and put it up single handedly. Literally. He only had use of one arm. I don’t think any of us really thought of all the challenges he had until after he passed away. At least I didn’t. A few years ago, my mother broke her wrist. She said, “I never thought about Michael getting dressed with one hand. It’s not easy. Buttoning my shirt was really hard. And frustrating.”
But dragging a tree home from the lot, putting it up, getting out and putting up his decorations exhausts me just thinking about it. Also, tinsel was a must. I don’t know where he got it. They stopped selling it almost everywhere years ago.
Laying tinsel on a tree is tedious if you do it right. And fun if you don’t. One is the delicate rain of icicles, the other a blizzard of silver. My brother went with the single-handed silver blizzard.