For the Beck Family, the Christmas Tree Comes Down Immediately

I know everyone has their own family traditions for Christmas.  But I have never seen one as "Wham! Bam! Thank you, Ma'am!" as my friend Brian's.  It's been a long-standing Beck family tradition that the tree comes down immediately following the Christmas morning celebration.  And, this year was no different.  Their tree is already on the curb.

Here's what Brian's tree looked like early this Christmas morning . . .

Beautiful, right?  Oh, by the way, that's his mother (who, for Christmas, got 3rd row V.I.P. tickets to see Cher in concert)!  Raise your hand if you're jealous of Nancy!!!

Here's the tree as of 1pm EST this afternoon . . .

Yep!  That's it.  Banished to the curb, next to the trash toter, ready for pickup!  The Christmas coach has already turned back into a pumpkin.

And to prove it's the same tree, let's reference the included photos, shall we?  Above you can see the part of the house with the tree in it (up until about 11am this morning).  Here's the corner of the house now . . .

Brian, who is a KWC grad, fraternity brother and long-time friend of mine, says the tradition began with his mother, Nancy.  And, basically, it works like this.  "When the last present is open, that's it!"  Christmas is over and the family cleans up.  Brian's brother, Kevin, immediately starts removing the ornaments from the tree.  Everything then gets boxed up and the tree goes to the curb.

Brian says the tradition likely started because his mom got tired of pine needles falling from the tree.  Real trees can get dry . . . quickly . . . and they shed their needles.  Instead of spending another week cleaning them up, the tree goes to the curb on Christmas Day.  Nancy carried this tradition on for years at her house.  Brian now carries it on at his.

But, heck!  It was a Merry Christmas while it lasted, right?

Mom got some Cher tickets and some quality family time.  Brian got his living room back!