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Dorothy Copus Brush Been there, done that
"Been there, done that" has taken its place in pop culture language. Often young people use the phrase casually, but for those who have lived much longer there is almost too much truth in those few words. They sound simple, but they can be a trap.
For the young they carry a note of sophistication that is unbecoming,
but for the old they can erase all the joy from the many different
situations we encounter. I've thought a lot about "been there,
done that" since December is here again. For years and years
there was never a question that a Christmas tree would stand
in our home. It began with the birth of our first son in 1945,
followed by another son in '47, another in '48 and then in '51
daughter completed our family. Choosing a Christmas tree was
a family decision. Most times we found our tree at a city lot,
cut and ready to take home. There was only one year we went to
a Christmas tree farm and tramped through the snow examining
trees as we tried to agree on which one to cut. Years passed and the little ones became big
kids. Artificial trees had improved greatly from their early
days, and I decided since the nest was emptying this was the
time to buy one. It was delightful to pull it out of storage
when the mood hit me, and in a short time it was put together
and ready to decorate. Then came the day we left our now-empty nest
and moved to Tennessee. We disposed of many things before we
moved, but all the Christmas decorations collected over a lifetime,
including the ersatz tree, came along. With the change of address came the acceptance
of other changes. Those little kids were all married with children
of their own. We were all scattered miles apart and seldom did
our schedules mesh so we could all be together at the same time. For several years I still unpacked the tree
even though there were no youngsters in the house. The first
year it didn't see the light of December was when we had travel
plans, and it didn't seem worthwhile to go through the fuss.
Yes, there were table-top trees and other seasonal decorations,
but no towering tree in the corner. After that first lapse it
seemed easier and easier to go without the tree. Every year I
pulled out the other boxes of Christmas decorations, but the
tree box was left untouched for about a decade. The longer I thought about "been there, done that" the more guilt I felt and this year the tree stands in the corner all decorated. It fills the long, dark hours of winter evenings with sparkling light. Wrestling it from its storage space left me with a few aches and pains, but the happy memories it has awakened made it all worthwhile. |