O Christmas Tree, You Fell on Me!

Last Friday, we held our annual Christmas gathering for the YMO (Youth Ministry Office) at our place and as always, it was a great night of fun, fellowship and food. There were many highlights, including the fabulous Shabu Shabu dinner, watching all of the YMO kids play with each other, and of course, our Nacho Gift Exchange, featuring stealing, wheeling, and dealing. Read that title a couple of times over…you’ll get it eventually. :p

As we were nearing the end of the Nacho Gift Exchange, I was positioned in my regular spot at the coffee table right in front of the Christmas tree. Suddenly, I heard a few screams and one voice in particular: that of Faye screaming in her loudest (yet slowest) voice: “LLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKK OOOOOOUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTT!” It was reminiscent of a slow-motion action sequence from a John Woo movie: I can vividly recall the look of horror on Faye’s face as she struggled to get the two words out. By the time I figured out that Faye was telling me to “look out”, it was too late: the Christmas tree had fallen on top of me, completely enveloping me and immediately making me its biggest ornament. I was sprawled out face-first on my coffee table and was still wondering what had happened as all of the adults quickly removed the tree from my back. Thankfully I wasn’t hurt and thankfully the tree didn’t hit anyone else. As everyone else returned the tree to its upright position, I recall two people asking me if I was okay, while three people asked if any ornaments broke. Great…more people were concerned about the decorations than they were about me!

To be truthful, it was actually only one person asking if I was okay: the other was my daughter Kayla who started to cry after initially putting on her best brave face. As I thanked her for her concern, someone pointed out that Kayla was likely crying because Daddy had destroyed Christmas, as opposed to being concerned for my health! Thanks a lot guys.

In replacing the ornaments on the tree, we had yet another good laugh: my rather imposing frame had left a distinct imprint in the tree. It took us a few moments to re-shape the artificial branches and fill up the hole left by my body.

In re-tracing the events of the evening, the tree likely fell because I was tinkering with it earlier in the evening when Gail noticed that it was leaning slightly forward. I guess in my efforts to fix it, I actually made it worse (a common theme for me with respect to things around the house). I’m pleased to tell you that since then we have re-enforced the base.

Thus, the tree shouldn’t fall again. After all, I wouldn’t want it to destroy the ONE gift I have under the tree (as opposed to the kids with their dozens)!