A merry Christmas, even without Santa’s gifts
In the countdown to the holidays, the Star is sharing readers’ stories of their favourite holiday baubles. Today: Anita Pau on her family’s first Christmas tree.
It was our first Christmas tree and the last one available from the store. My parents bought the last plastic tree in mid-December from Canadian Tire. My mother saved enough money from her minimum-wage job and bought a bunch of ornaments from Woodward’s, the long-gone department store that was once in Vancouver.
It was also the first Christmas in our own house, after living in a rental basement apartment during our first year in Canada. I was 13, my sister 11 and my brother 9.
We had plastic mini candy canes, apples, doves and reindeer. They look cheaply made and probably came from the same place where our family came from, Hong Kong. But we three kids didn’t care. We were just so happy decorating the tree.
I still have all those ornaments. Santa never visited our house, but we were content to celebrate the spirit of the season. The ornaments reminded me how hard my parents worked to help our family feel like we belonged in our new country. Anita Pau is a mother of three. Although she has a pretty tree now, she’ll never forget her first one. What’s your favourite ornament? We want to share your story with readers in the Toronto Star, thestar.com and on Star Touch. Email life@thestar.ca and include the word ornaments in the subject line. Or write to: Toronto Star, Life Department (ornaments), One Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6.