Kaitlin's Tree

From the ages of 8-13ish everywhere I went a baby doll came with me. But not just any baby doll. A very lifelike doll that I named Kaitlin. Mom was taking us all to Walmart, the park, church, a field trip, the doctor’s office? Kaitlin came. With her diaper bag and accessories too, much to Mom’s dismay. And of course, eventually she had siblings and things got more complicated, but I digress. One day we were at our annual trip to the Christmas Tree farm and an employee eyed Kaitlin, thinking for sure, from a distance, she must have been a member of the family. Upon ringing us up for our typical white pine Christmas tree, he pulls out a potted pine sprout as a gift for the “new addition”. The following moments were a bit awkward as he realized, to his horror, Kaitlin was stuffed and plastic. He decided we could take the little tree anyway and Dad was much amused. All I can say is I was very pleased with this man. Not only had he validated my baby doll but he’d also given me a free tree in her honor. When we got home dad planted it somewhere in our yard and it was hence forth known as “Kaitlin’s Tree”

That was over ten years ago.

This Christmas I came home from college and was met with a proposition: it’s time for Kaitlin’s tree to be our Christmas tree. I honestly hadn’t thought about her tree in years and was sure it was nowhere near Christmas-tree size, but I was wrong. Kaitlin’s tree is huge. After much deliberation, I consented and now Kaitlin’s tree is the Koppel family 2018 Christmas tree. It’s quirky and bushy and has gaps in weird places & honestly that’s my family’s classic Christmas tree look. But more than anything, Kaitlin’s tree is a tangible piece of passing time. I’m not going to lie, seeing the family hang ornaments on those branches was a moment for me.