It was a beautiful, sunny but crisp, winter morning—one week before Christmas—the perfect time for the family to climb into the new van for an excursion into the countryside to find the perfect Christmas tree. Before long they had found their tree, cut it down, had their snowball fight, followed by hot chocolate, and were headed back to town with their treasure tied to the van roof.

As they were nearing the newly opened, brushless carwash, Keith noticed that his new van was in need of a carwash, and so, without thought, he entered. Yes, you guessed it; he had forgotten what was on the roof. His memory kicked into high gear as he neared the heat of the drying section, and he drove through quickly hoping to salvage the tree.

By the time they arrived home a short time later, the tree was well frozen to the roof. Keith used a hair dryer to try to release it; but still, quite a bit was left on the roof when he finally managed to pull the tree free.

Despite the damage, Keith thought once it was decorated the next day, it would still look quite nice, and so he put it in the tree stand and the family went on to bed for the night with the promise of a fun day to come.

Did I forget to mention they had a cat? Yes, the cat managed to topple the tree during the night, and it was starting to look like the proverbial “Charlie Brown” style tree. By this time, Keith was in no mood to think of getting another – it would have to do.

Unfortunately, no one took a picture. When Keith told us the story at work the following Monday, we all enjoyed a good laugh. Now, many years later, the story still gives me a good chuckle. I’m sure it’s one adventure his family will never forget.

Something you might want to journal:

Do you have any special stories to share with family at this time of year?

What are some things you like to do as a family for Christmas?