By TONNYE WILLIAMS FLETCHER
NR Writers Group

It was Christmas Eve – 1988. Shane and I had gotten engaged on the 21st; it had already been an incredible holiday.

We had spent the first part of the holiday with Shane’s family – my first Christmas with my soon-to-be family. The house rang with laughter, punctuated by crinkling wrapping paper and filled with the smells of Christmas.

Christmas Eve was replete with traditions of the evening -- games, puzzles, Christmas music, pralines, Christmas cookies and family. Many of them were spending the night at Shane’s parents’ house, but it was my first Christmas away from my family, and we had agreed to leave Christmas Eve night in order to be in Chadbourn by Christmas morning.

The time came to head to North Carolina from the mountains of Georgia. We had a seven-hour drive awaiting us and were hoping to catch at least a nap before the Christmas chaos of the morning.

Around 9, we left the Fletcher house, full of humor, warmth, and playful fun for a long, silent night’s drive. Just before leaving, Shane gave me an early Christmas gift – a small Christmas tree. He had bought battery-operated lights, some white fabric “snow” and had even decorated the tree.

The decorations were costume jewelry – a pearly necklace served as the garland and there were matching earrings hanging as ornaments as well. As we drove home, those festive lights celebrated the future that was to be ours and the romantic gesture assured me that I had truly found the perfect man for me. We talked and planned for most of the trip.

When we tired of talking, we sat in the darkness of the car, with only the Christmas tree promising the joys of tomorrow, becoming today with every mile. Christmas morning came – and went – and has done so for 18 Christmases since.

Every year brings some special, romantic moment that takes me back to that Christmas Eve, and the gift of a decorated tree on the dashboard of a car.