The Christmas tree in our home at 1703 Juliet Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota, was my mother’s project (Virginia Mae Banning Bloomfield). First came the strings of electric lights. Then the ornaments were hung. No two ornaments were alike. They hadn’t been expensive and some of them were hand-me-downs from older friends of Mother and Dad. However, I wouldn’t say they were nothing special. Their meaning and value stemmed from the fact that they were OUR Christmas ornaments that Mother hung on the tree EVERY year.

The finishing touch and the tree’s crowning glory was the tinsel. Mother would unpack the thin aluminum strips that had been used over and over and over and hang then over her left arm. One by one she positioned them between the needles on the branches. No two pieces of tinsel were placed between the same two needles. It took Mother forever to put the tinsel on the tree. But it was worth it!

When Mother was finished, the tree resembled a silver waterfall flowing over colored Christmas ornament and lights. I never saw another Christmas tree on which the tinsel was so meticulously hung or so elegant. Not even the professionally and expensively decorated trees at the Emporium or Schuneman’s or the Golden Rule department stores were – in my eyes – as beautiful as OUR tree.

As I got older, Mother let me help her with decorating. My left arm ached from holding it outstretched while loaded with tinsel. And if I really was serious about helping, I needed to be as meticulous as Mother in distributing the tinsel. No hurrying. No two strands over each other. It was worth the effort, though, when Mother found that I had done the job as well as she had.