rgwe - true love

DEEPLY FIT

true love

A "REAL TREE"

Every year in December my dad would say, "This year son,

we're getting an artificial tree !!!"

It was always such a task to go and get a "real tree". And

once it was finally in the house, it seemed as if the trunk of

the tree never would fit the base mount. My dad would

have to saw pieces off of the trunk to get it to fit into the

base,with various curse words interwoven between the

sawing.

And then the tree wouldn't be straight. And then it would.

And then it wouldn't again. Ok, now it was straight this time

for sure. That is, until my mom would come home and say,

"I think the tree needs to come a little more towards the

left." And then my dad would fix it. And then she'd say,

"No, now it needs to go towards the right. And my dad

would fix it. And then, of course, it was leaning too far

back. And moments after that, too far forward. Yes,

somehow my mom had a keen understanding of tree

placement. She was more adept at tree straightening that

Santa Claus himself. My poor dad's patience would certainly

reach it's final frontier at Christmastime.

In the end, I don't think the tree was ever

straight, not any year. Yeah, the "real tree" was a

nuisance.

Not to mention who would be appointed to climb

underneath the tree and water it every

few days. It sure hurts when sharp pine needles stab you in

the head. Oh I should know, I was singled out to crawl

underneath the jagged Christmas spectacle.It just wasn't

that easy putting up with the hassles of a "real tree".

And so like I said, every year in December my dad would

tell me that the year prior was the last year for a "real

tree." That was it, he just couldn't take it anymore.

And every year in December my mom would say to my

dad, "Will you go and get the tree tonight ?". She would

say this in a tone that sounded something like there was

already a guaranteed approval awaiting the question. All

she wanted was a"real tree".

And you know what.....My dad would go out and buy a "real

tree" just to make her happy. No questions asked.

Another year of "real tree" maintenance.

Another year of straightening difficulties.

Another year of pine needle head trauma.

And, oh yes, another year of LOVE.

...TRUE LOVE