My memories as a child of real Christmas trees was mostly of one thing: That I didn’t like the smell. I’m not sure why, I’m not sure if it was even ‘real’ Christmas tree pine smell that I wasn’t liking, but that’s what I always thought.
We had our share of real trees growing up, usually they served as ‘tree number 2’ because in our house, having at least 2 trees was a necessity.
But when I moved out, I switched to artificial only and that was that. From my first apartment in my first year of university I always put up a Christmas tree. Andy and I decorated a small one together when it was just the two of us in our cramped apartment. When we built our house 9 years ago, we bought a new, huge Costco tree and have had that ever since.
This year, after some thought and research, we decided it was time to try a real tree. At first, my son hesitated. He assumed a real tree meant a small tree like one you’d see in a garden. I assured him that the tree would indeed be taller than him.
On a rainy day this past weekend, we went to our local tree lot and selected our first real Christmas tree. Andy and I got all sappy (and not in the romantic way) while putting it up. I had already gone to Canadian Tire to get a sturdy tree holder. We trimmed it a little and instantly fell in love.
Now, as I work on the computer, I stare at our first real tree and know there’s no going back. It feels perfect in our home and after decorating it, we couldn’t be happier.
And you know what? I love the smell.
