"Marlow, what do you mean your family hates decorating Christmas trees? That's it, I'm coming over this weekend. Can you get a tree by Saturday?"
...words from myself to my best friend Marlow nearly a decade ago.
Saturday finally came and I arrived at the Larson family home in the country side. Marlow rushed in with a mug of meticulously prepared hot cocoa. "I think I may be onto something, this hot chocolate is the best I've ever made" he says. After tasting and agreeing (and a second helping), he and I began decorating his family's perfectly chosen tree. The smell of the tree, a freshly cooked spaghetti dinner, and old boxes filled with Christmas decorations filled the home. It smelled like Christmas should smell.
As the years went by, new traditions built into this carefully planned one. I would arrive at his parents new home in the city and his mom and I would converse about the carefully picked tree, how its her sixth time remodeling the living room, and his dad and I would contemplate the best Christmas music to play (which was always Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole).
Marlow and I realized that this is the time of year that makes us feel more excited and happy than any other and we wait all 364 days for it with hunger and intent. It was simply never soon to begin celebrating. But this day, we went all out.
We began to pull out the decorations and agree together that the collection of clown ornaments is creepy and discuss what will happen if we cannot find baby Jesus for the Nativity Scene.
After it was completed, we stood in the driveway where the living room window overlooked the neighborhood, with a beaming, beautiful Christmas tree. Smiling proudly, and embracing the cold December air, we shivered and agreed that it was time for another cup of cocoa and a Christmas movie.
Although now just a memory, those days will still remain some of my favorite and most poignant.
Tradition is just that after all. Making something out of what was once nothing, creating a bond of spirits, and mostly, remembering how those seemingly small and simple moments made us feel infinite.
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