Favorite Christmas Song: O Christmas Tree

Without a moment's hesitation my favorite Christmas song of all time is "O Christmas Tree." It is a classic Christmas Carol of German origin, the composer of which remains unknown to this day. This is probably for the best. Now some may argue that "Jingle Bells" or "Little Drummer Boy" or even "Silent Night" should take the top prize. I can assure you that none of these festive ditties hold a candle to the mélange of holiday memories that flood my spirit upon hearing the gentle pitter pat rhythm of "O Christmas Tree."

It was a Sunday like any other at my home. I remember it was Sunday because that was the day that other family members would come to our house because we had food. It was sometime in the late seventies. I was young and I remember the delicious smell of my mother's stew wafting in the air while the sound of corduroy pants swooshing could be heard throughout the house.

It was a couple weeks before Christmas and "O Christmas Tree" began playing on the radio. My mother stepped away from the feast she was preparing and called my father into the kitchen. My father and the holiday season have a very special relationship. It is dysfunctional to say the least. One time I asked him why Santa didn't bring presents to our house like the other kids in the neighborhood. He explained to me that I was still too young and Santa didn't believe in me yet.
The Christmas song must have triggered something in my mother's head because she asked my father to go out and find a Christmas tree. It was a cold night. It was dark already. My father wasn't about to hike off into the evening on a whim just because "O Christmas Tree" was making my mom feel all warm and festive inside. More importantly, my father knew that if he left, my uncle Lou would finish off the beef brisket without a moment's consideration for my father. It was decided that the "O Christmas Tree" hunt would take place the following evening.

The next day's adventure promised to include an interesting twist. My grandmother was staying over at our house that night because the following morning we were driving her to the airport to catch a flight to Florida. She was going to Florida because that's what grandmothers do. She insisted on joining us for the hunt. My father tried to convince her that it probably wasn't a good idea to come along. After all, it was cold and we weren't going to be out for very long anyway. She would not relent. She explained that she wanted to be with her grandchildren for the selection of our first Christmas tree. I told her that we had already celebrated Christmas several times and that each time we had a tree. She mentioned that she didn't remember those previous years so those trees didn't count. She went on to say that we could just pretend like she wasn't there which she believed we always did anyway.

During most of the drive we didn't speak much to each other. In the car with me were my father, my grandmother and my sister who busied herself playing with Malibu Barbie. Once we parked the car and began walking towards the forest of trees where our prey awaited us, my grandmother began to sing. "O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree..." Those appeared to be the only words she could recall. That didn't stop here from repeating the lyric innumerable times before we found the tree of our choice.

As my father began to take the tree down he lost control of it and it began to fall away from him. My grandmother was still singing periodically and had turned her back on us so she didn't see our coniferous selection tipping towards her. The tree couldn't have been more than seven feet tall and was not particularly full but it did manage to snag my grandmother's coat as it fell, pulling her to the ground.

Finally, the Christmas Carol had ended. We rushed to my grandmother's side to make sure she was alright. She told us we should just leave her and go on without her. She mentioned that she didn't want to ruin the experience of our first Christmas tree. I explained to her that it wasn't our first Christmas tree and that she was being silly. She mentioned something about not having much time left anyway and that it was just as good a place as any to be laid out.

We packed the tree up and headed for home. Yes, we decided to bring grandma too. I can't say the same for Malibu Barbie. She got separated during the excitement. During the drive, I couldn't help but wonder how strange a tradition the Christmas tree seemed to be. To this day I've never fully understood why we take perfectly healthy trees from outside and stick them in our homes where they are destined to wither and die. The only other times during the year a tree makes it into my home is when it has been converted into furniture and I don't do that very often. Yet the Christmas tree tradition perseveres. Just like grandma. "O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree", thou shall always have unique memories for me.