The Tinsel Tree

"It's a fake tree", I said the year my mother lost her mind and decided that real trees were too much trouble! My best friend, who lived next door thought it was just great,....that giant, silver monstrosity! That is..until I told her to close her eyes, and sniff. "That's the ugliest tree I ever smelled!" she said, ...finally agreeing with me. Her support helped to convince my mother of her error in judgment, and that was the last tinsel tree we ever had. That was the same year that we noticed that Santa Claus looked a lot like our neighbor, Mr. Hendrickson. We had called him "Mr. Hiccupson" until we would go into fits of giggles watching how his belly jiggled. Spending all those Christmas's apart after her family moved away, was painful Never again would we have special sleepovers, and times like singing around that fake tree, and listening for Mr. Hendrickson's reindeer to land on the roof. We had written letters for awhile, but after a few years we drifted apart....her living on one coast, me on the other. But I had never forgotten that last Christmas....and the silver tinsel tree. Out of the blue...a phone call,...a voice that time hadn't forgotten. Suddenly, we were laughing and giggling like two little girls once again. Sometimes, when you least expect it, Christmas shows up early,....like a long lost friend and wraps you up in it's arms. Thank you Santa Claus.....or Mr. Hiccupson, ......wherever you are!.....