Our Christmas Tree

by Emily Cushing

Five days before Christmas last year our family still did not have a Christmas tree. So my husband, Travis, and I loaded the kids up in the mini-van and drove down to the local tree lot. With only five days to go, I thought do we really need to buy an expensive tree since we will only be able to enjoy it for a few days?

Therefore, we set a $30 limit. How far does $30 go these days at a tree lot? Not far. The tree we purchased was a scrappy little guy who barely reached 5 feet. And on top of that, when we drove into the garage, we forgot that he was on top of the van. When we heard scraping and crunching as we pulled in, Travis and I looked at each other in confusion. And then simultaneously we yelled, “The tree!!”

But a small Christmas miracle occurred and our little tree survived the ordeal. We brought him inside, decorated him, and made him our own. Then eight days later, as we were preparing for a party, I asked Travis to get rid of him. So what did Travis do? He threw the tree in the backyard.

Luckily, Utah had a very bad winter. So before long, our tree was buried by snow and it wasn’t until spring, when the snow had all melted, that our little tree reappeared. Once again, I asked Travis to get rid of the tree. He said he needed to wait until he could borrow his Dad’s truck. That was two months ago.

A couple of weeks ago Travis and I were walking to our kids’ school to watch them perform in their dance concert. We had walked about a quarter of a mile when out of the corner of my eye I saw this huge dead bush:


As we got closer I realized that someone else in our neighborhood is as lazy as we are because there lying in their yard, five months after Christmas, was their brown dead Christmas tree.


But then to my complete and utter astonishment I realized that it was not their Christmas tree, but that it was our Christmas tree! And even more surprising than our tree traveling a quarter of a mile, was that in order to do so, he had dug himself out of a small hole, jumped a fence, taken a sharp right turn, and then tumbled (I’m guessing) the rest of the way, until there he lay waiting for me and Travis to go on a walk and discover him.

I guess we won’t have to wait until five days before Christmas this year to go get our tree. Instead, we’ll just pick him up from our neighbor’s yard in November.