…………..These are pictures taken in front of my tree at my mom and dad’s house on Long Island. I would guess I was about eight years old so that would make it 1956….My father and my oldest brother would always go and buy the tree, with specific instructions from my mother. She always told them to please pick one with a nice shape, and not too tall so the top would have to be cut off!….She always said, the beautiful tapered top is very important so the Angel could sit properly…..However, I think my dad thought the ceilings in out house were 14 feet tall because he could never stand a tree upright in the house without CUTTING FROM THE BOTTOM AND THE TOP!!! My mother was always annoyed, but all she would say was….”JIM!….that was all she needed to say!! If was also my father and my brother Mauro’s job to put the lights on. Due to my brother, who was always a perfectionist, they were always done well…..Then it was my Mom and my job to decorate it…It seemed my brother John was never around…He was always at his girlfriend’s house…..The metal tinsel was always last, and always took the longest. I recall one time my mother asked my dad to help one time, but when he started to throw it on the tree helter skelter…..she told him to leave! I think he did it on purpose. He had no patience for tree trimming…..My Mom and I put it on one strand at a time to make sure it hung properly. I loved out tree. We had bubble candle lights along with the old fashioned large multi color lights. I have no idea what became of all the decorations???The glass decorations of the 50s, made after the war, were wonderful…….The Christmas that the photos were taken I got a chemistry set and a pool table, and I loved them!….In the pictures from the left are me and my cousin Grace…..We are the same age…She reminded me the other day that this coming year we are going to have milestone birthdays!!! we will be 75!….when I thought we were going to be 74….boo hoo boo hoo!!!..I didn’t get to see her often because she lived in Mass. and she still does, but we were and still are very close……The “gang” are all my first cousins……from the left [back row] my brother John, and my cousin Pete…[front row] my cousins Joey, Sal and Mauro…..The goofy kid up front is me…..I have to say I was a pretty goofy looking kid!!!….We look like we came right out of central casting for “The East Side Kids”, or “Boy’s Town”……These were definitely “THE GOOD OLD DAYS”…………..so different from today!……Merry Christmas cousins in Heaven and here on Earth!
