Tree Times Four

My mother and I had lunch together yesterday. She told me a Christmas story from when she was a very little girl. There would eventually be 7 children in their family but this story occurred when there was only 4. She is the next to oldest child in her family. They lived in a very old house back in 1929 and it was a small house. They did not normally put up a Christmas tree because there was just not room for it in the house. The 4 of the kids each begged for a tree. They each wanted their own tree. They were wanting to set up 4 Christmas trees not one. Their parents consented and they went out had found 4 small pine trees and cut them down. They used buckets of dirt for tree stands. They each made their own decorations out of paper and each placed a paper star on the top of their tree. There was no electricity so there were no lights at all on these trees just homemade ornaments. Christmas morning under each of these trees was one homemade present, one apple, one orange, one piece of hard candy, and a handful of nuts (still in the shells). Their father, "Papa", bought a large box of raisins and they all shared them. They were never allowed to do that again. Four trees was just too much. It was sweet of Andrew and Lourie Nutt to indulge their kids that way. It was hard times in 1929. But they still were able to have a Merry Christmas. Mother also shared with me that there were 2 years when she lived at home with her parents that she got nothing on Christmas day. She admits that she was disappointed but that feeling soon passed.

Mother and I worked on the house together and she seems to enjoy working with me. We start by building a fire in the fireplace to take the chill out of the house. I went upon the roof and fixed a roof leak while mother drove nails and floated sheet rock. We ripped out the old shower next and cleaned out that corner of the down stairs bathroom. We called it day and she returned to her crochet and me to pastoring. The picture is of me, my brothers, and my parents in 1970 at Ayer Massachusetts. Merry Christmas mother and God bless you.