Jerry Sicard’s sister sent this column to him and he showed it to me as he knew it would bring back memories for me as well. Jerry and I were the Clumpers while his sister and Priscilla were the Stranders.
Corky
When I was a kid, part of the trimming included this stuff called tinsel. Tinsel was thin, shiny strips of aluminum that hung on the branches to make the tree look more silver, which didn't make any sense. But I was just a kid and told to follow the rules of life.
Now, tinsel came in a package that included roughly 45,000 strands. And my oldest sister, who had the patience, placed each individual strand on the tree just so. This was madness. I grabbed handfuls of the stuff and decorated the branches by the clump so she shooed me away.
I had no problem watching Jonny Quest cartoons while she painstakingly placed individual strips of shiny aluminum on each branch. It's no wonder that tinsel has disappeared. Not only was it a pain in the rump, it was probably determined to be a health hazard, like lead or mercury or black licorice.
These days patience still is required when decorating the tree. Yet I can't just place the ornaments anywhere. Apparently, there's this universal rule that small ones are to be hung at the top and the large ones go on the bottom.
Who says? I'd like someone to show me in "The Rules for Trimming the Christmas Tree" pamphlet where exactly it states that. Was my sister the author? But to maintain the holiday spirit, I follow the rules of society and put the big ones on the bottom and little ones on top.
Of course, before hanging the ornament, we must first ponder its existence. Where did it come from? Was it a gift? Did our grandson give it to one of us? What year was it given? My wife and I have ornaments that we still cannot agree which side of the family they originated. While I'm certain it was my dad's favorite, she is positive it was her grandmother's.
And while I love a good debate, I just want to git-r-done so I'll hang it up. And, naturally, she'll move it because it's in the wrong place.
Ray Kisonas is regional editor of The Daily Telegram and The Monroe News