Rebuilding Rob

I feel like this prompt has been done before, and I’m only going to write about one particular family tradition. It’s not one from my immediate family growing up; but rather a tradition of MY family; namely Kid 1, Kid 2 and I.

A few years back, on my way to see Kid 1 in South Carolina during the holidays, I stopped at a Walmart in West Virginia. I think I stopped there because I wanted to stretch my legs, get out of the car and walk for a few minutes.

This was a day or two after Christmas. So, like so many other stores at this time of year, Wal Mart had their holiday decorations marked down to clearance prices. I saw this 6 1/2′ pre-light Christmas – normally $100 marked down to $40. As you can imagine by the price, it wasn’t anything fancy. I bought it completely on a whim. After all, I figured: Hey, $40 Christmas tree. Maybe I’ll put it up next year. So I bought it, stuffed it into my car and packed it away when I got home.

The next year, when I went to see Kid 1 again at Christmas, I rented an Air Bnb. Kid 2 was riding down with me, so I packed the tree, my Christmas ornaments and the kids presents. I put up the tree at the Air Bnb, lit it, and decorated it. I even bought a few more decorations in town that year to finish it off.

I just wanted it to be OUR Christmas, with OUR Christmas tree, I know it probably sounds corny; but when your kids live 13 hours and one hour (respectively) from you and you don’t all get together more than a few times every year, you want to make it count.

Since them the tree has followed us, being a part of our Christmas celebrations; whether we were in Michigan or South Carolina; at hone, in a hotel or even in an AirBnb. I know its so much more about what it represents than anything else; but still, I love my $40 WalMart Christmas tree. I getting emotional even writing about it now. Call me corny, I’ll embrace it.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier related posts:

• The O.R. Virgin
• A Day in the Life of Rob
• Rob Reviews: The Acolyte. Am I missing the boat here?
• Rob goes green
• The nicest, coldest drink ever

The article “It’s not a bad little tree…” originally appeared on Rebuilding Rob