Once our daughter was born, he began stopping by a tree lot on his way home from work and "surprising" us with a tree. Admit, I kind of felt like the kids and I were missing out on the thrill of the hunt, but it beat the idea of the artificial tree he was pushing for. Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, do you enjoy the sight of a decorated Christmas tree?

After we separated, our teenagers and I would make the 15-minute trek to the local tree farm. We didn't opt to cut down our own tree (I have a preference for injury free holidays) but had tons of fun playing with the farmer's dogs and admiring the critters in the petting zoo. The trees were always gorgeous. Have you ever been to a tree farm?

Driving home from the tree farm in 2023 we heard a ping from atop our little Ford Fiesta. Words cannot fully describe the experience of making it the last few miles while trying to control our near hysteria as we listened to the tree shift. Since then, DeeDee calls on her dad and his old red pickup truck on tree day. I think of it as our personal Christmas meme: red truck, green tree, a girl, her dad, and her black lab. She refers to it (sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells" as "Dad Jokes All the Way." Do you like Dad Jokes?

The day after the tree landed at our house, DeeDee decorated it. It takes her most of the day. (She is a perfectionist, and she has a process. It's safer to stand back and just let it happen.) I texted several pictures of her throughout the day to keep her dad updated. His response was the picture you see here. Have you ever watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas?"

In the message sent with the picture he says, "This is more my style." So I sent the picture of my kitchen you see here. The chair at the bottom left is where he has sat at every Christmas breakfast for the past 35 years. The last 15 years or more next to that little tree. (and before you ask, yes, we have celebrated every Christmas and Thanksgiving as a family even though the marriage ended nearly two decades ago.) In "Lilo and Stitch" our alien hero says of his family: "It's little and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good." Have you ever seen "Lilo and Stitch?"

Whatever your circumstances, I hope you will join me in putting aside all the petty annoyances and resentments we sometimes see in the comments here and wish every Tellwutter the very best of the season. Will you?