North of Tampa about 40 miles is a small family owned Christmas tree farm. When I lived in Dade City, we were near the original farm, and I had gone there with the ex and steps to cut trees, trying to recreate that magic of being in the woods that I cherish from childhood. Florida trees are not like northern trees: dense, flimsy branches, and no smell. But the experience of cutting your own tree is something every child should have, so I persisted. When I hooked up with my daughter's dad, I tried to insist on real trees, but lack of children reduced my incentive.
When I left her dad, things were really tight. We lived in a small (560 sq. ft.) bungalow we were renting from a friend, and experienced a closely budgeted hand to mouth kind of experience. That year I was determined to have a wonderful Christmas with my daughter, regardless of budget. She wanted not just a real tree, but a live tree. Of course I turned to my favorite little tree farm in Dade City. We were in luck, they had live, potted trees for as low as $30. That tapped my budget, and gas was expensive (well - for 2002, I had no idea what the future held), so we headed north on I-275.
They were out of $30 trees. In fact, the smallest live ones left were TINY, and over $45.
So - in my bravest, best, unworried Mommy voice, I explained to my daughter that they didn't have a tree in our price range just now, but we would try to come back in the next week-end, and maybe find a tree. She handled it really well - I was closer to crying than she was, but she was very disappointed. The owner noticed us walking away treeless us, and asked if he could help us find something. I explained that the ad had shown $30 trees, and that was all we could really handle right now, but we would try to come back, if I could get a little more cash together.
He thought about it for less than a second, held out his hand to my little girl and said, "You know, I think we have some $30 dollar trees over this way." He let her pick out a potted tree. It was a $60 tree, and it was perfect.
This is why every year, no matter how inconvenient, expensive, and time consuming it may seem, I buy my tree at Ergle's. We no longer cut our trees, and we haven't had a potted tree since. But they have the best Northern trees around, so I get that fir smell that means Christmas. And, I get the satisfaction of knowing that I am supporting a family that deserves all the abundance that the universe can throw at them.
Do you have christmas story to share?
Beautiful story.
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