Christmas is a magical time of year for many people around the world. For our family the season begins the day after Thanksgiving when we begin to think about decorating our home and buying Christmas gifts. I must admit that I find it necessary to brace myself for the Christmas season because so much energy is spent getting ready for the one special magical day of Christmas. But it was not always so ...
My dad was sort of a prankster at times. You wouldn't guess it so, but my dad could have a wicked sense of humor. I find myself smiling when I think of my dad's sense of fun when he wasn't working. Driving home from my grandma's house on Christmas Eve, my dad would call out, "Girls, I hear that Santa has left the North Pole! If we hurry home and you jump into bed, I'll bet he's at our house by midnight!" Judy and I would giggle excitedly and begin making plans for waking up early in the morning. Because my sister was an early riser, she often declared her intention to wake us all up early ~~ maybe as early at six o'clock! Even though I was, and still am, a night owl, I readily agreed to her plan just so we could see the wonderful sight of the Christmas tree with beautifully decorated presents beneath its majestic branches.
I have early memories of our family buying Christmas trees from a parking lot "Christmas Tree Store". We'd tie the tree to the top of our most recent station wagon and drive home ~~ anticipating the fun of decorating our Christmas tree =) I remember carefully laying the silver tinsel all over the tree as our final touch of creativity. We would have Christmas music playing on the record player and Mom would serve hot chocolate ever so often. But one year, when I was about eight years old, my dad decided to add a little excitement to our traditional plans of Christmas ...
"Girls, we're going to grow a Christmas tree tonight!" declared my dad. "Grow a Christmas tree in one night!?" both Judy and I excited asked. "Yep," said my dad holding up what appeared to be a little red seed , "with this little Christmas tree seed!" We peered into Dad's hand as he cradled one little red something in his outstretched palm. His face was flushed with excitement as he smiled at us from above. "Are you ready for some fun tonight, Kathy? Judy? Do you believe we can grow a Christmas tree tonight?" "Oh, yes, we believe!" And we did believe, even though I secretly wondered how in the world a big Christmas tree could grow in just one night from this one itty bitty little seed. Then, again, I thought to myself, Dad knows alot about building & growing.
So we began by first pushing our little index fingers into the soft soil in our ceramic cannister designed to hold a large evergreen tree. Then Dad lovingly placed our little seed into our hole and gently covered it with soil. We watered our little seed with Mom's green watering can with a long spout used to water her kitchen plants. Staring at our newly planted Christmas tree, Judy and I watched and waited for awhile. Nothing seemed to be taking place so we watched a little more. Reading the newspaper while sitting in his green, dad-only recliner, my dad looked up and said, "If you girls find something else to do, your tree will grow faster. It's like this: A pot of water seems to take forever to boil when it's watched." So Judy and I scurried off to play for awhile.
Ten or fifteen minutes later we returned to our cannister to see if there was detectable growth. Oh my gosh!!! There appeared to be a sprig of growth in the form of one evergreen needle sticking up from the soil!!! Judy and I were astonished! We were, indeed, growing our Christmas tree that very night! Our excitement could hardly be contained! Jumping around, laughing, giggling ... "wait till our friends hear about this!" we thought aloud!
By this time we were ready to exit the room for awhile because we knew our tree would grow faster. Again, we returned only to find a little bit bigger sprig of twig with a few pine needles standing up in our cannister! This cycle repeated until we ultimately witnessed a 2-foot branch growing from our cannister. My dad finally encouraged us to go to bed ... it was late by this time, probably 9pm, ... with the assured promise that our Christmas tree would be full grown by morning. It was hard to fall asleep that night, but I did finally drift off to sleep fully planning on awakening early to see our new tree in full display!
As you might guess Judy and I caught our first glimpse of a full-sized Christmas tree that next morning! Oh my, we were so very excited!
The next year my sister and I asked Dad if we could grow a Christmas tree, again. Imagine our great sadness & disappointment when he laughed and declared the whole experience to be a hoax! As we listened in stunned silence as Dad explained that the idea came to him after he'd read a story in the Reader's Digest. The little red seed was really a "Red Hot" candy and he'd placed little pieces of the tree into the cannister whenever we'd leave the room. Our hearts were heavy as Disappointment reigned that day. Never again would we ask Dad to grow a Christmas tree for Christmas. The magic of the Christmas season seemed to "pop" after the truth of his deception was revealed.
When I think about it, it wasn't much later that I finally accepted the truth that Santa Claus wasn't a real story. Oh, I knew in my heart what the real meaning of Christmas was about, but I'd blended the story of Santa with the Nativity story somewhere along the way. Some of the magic spell of Christmas, which included the Santa Claus story and our Christmas Tree story, was broken for me. As I grew I began to understand the mechanics of Christmas with an adult perspective. Christmas began to take on more and more responsibility so that by age 15, I was thinking about buying or making gifts, myself. No longer did the giving of gifts center only on what I would receive. The magic of Christmas seemed to elude my heart for years.
My dad was having fun and also trying to keep the magic of Christmas alive for my sister and I. He wasn't trying to be mean. Rather he was trying to help make our holiday even more special than it already was. What I have learned is that the magic of Christmas can still reside in my heart ~~ no matter if I believe in Santa Claus or the Growing-of-the- Christmas-Tree-In-One-Night stories. Rick and I never chose to grow a Christmas tree for our three children, ... nor did we spend much time talking about Santa Claus. Instead our family worked to include the story of the birth of Jesus into our holiday celebrations and traditions.
...But I will never ever forget the night we grew our Christmas tree. It was one very special and magical evening for the Taral family ... What did I learn? I finally learned that the true Magic of Christmas is more than the story of Santa & his elves working tirelessly to bring gifts to every little boy and girl around the world on Christmas Eve. Instead it is the Magic of the virgin birth of Jesus, my Lord and Savior.
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