Christmas Camp

by Karen Schaler

  Jeff walked over to a beautiful six-foot Douglas fir. “She’s a beauty all right.”

  “No, not that one. That one!” Haley pointed to the funny-looking Charlie Brown Christmas tree that was right next to it. It was only about three feet high and had a crooked trunk, and there were fewer than a dozen branches that stuck out every which way. As far as Christmas trees go, it was one hot mess.

  Jeff laughed and gave her an incredulous look. “This is the tree you want? This isn’t a Christmas tree. It’s just something that’s popped up here.”

  Haley stubbornly marched over to the funny little tree. “You said all the trees here are Christmas trees and that I could pick any one I want.”

  “I know but—”

  “Well, this is the one I want.” When she locked eyes with him, he just shrugged.

  “Okay, it’s your choice. Have at it.”

  When Haley realized he meant for her to start sawing the little tree down, her confidence faded, but she refused to let him see she was nervous. So she got down on her hands and knees, sinking in the snow, and was fighting to lift up some branches so she could get the saw to the tree trunk when Jeff started helping by holding up some branches.

  “Here, does this help?” he asked.

  She nodded and crawled closer to the tree. She was getting covered in snow, but she didn’t care. She was determined to complete this activity so she could mark it off her list. She wasn’t about to let some Christmas tree stand in the way of her promotion. But when she finally got the saw to the little tree trunk, she had trouble making the saw glide back and forth.

  “Here, let me show you how to do it,” Jeff offered.

  Part of Haley, the stubborn part, wanted to cut down the tree without his help, but the other part of her, the part that was getting numb from the cold, gave in and handed him the saw.

  “You need to grab the handle of the saw like this.” He showed her. “And keep your index finger right here, along the top of the handle, because it will help you guide where you want the saw to go. Here, you try it.”

  When he handed her back the saw, she eagerly tried to do what he said but still had a hard time until he helped position her hand correctly. When their eyes met she gave him a grateful look, and for that moment she didn’t feel cold anymore as a rush of heat filled her body.

  “Okay, I think I’ve got it,” she said, and quickly turned her attention back to the tree. She held the saw like Jeff had showed her and tried again, and this time it worked. A smile lit up her face as she looked back at him. “I’m doing it! I’m sawing down a tree. Whooo-hoo!”

  “Great job! Keep at it, you’ve got a long way to go,” Jeff said in an encouraging voice.

  “But I’m doing it!”

  “You’re doing it.” He laughed.

  When the tree started to get a little wobbly, Jeff came over and held it upright. “Keep going, I’ve got it. I won’t let it fall down.”

  “You better not! I’m almost there, I think.” Haley, excited, picked up her speed. “Okay, are you ready?”

  “Ready!”

  “Done!” Haley said as she made the last cut.

  “Got it!” Jeff held the little tree up in the air.

  “We did it.” Haley grinned.

  “You did it.” Jeff smiled back. “Nice job.” He handed her the tree. “Here you go!”

  Haley proudly took it. It didn’t weigh very much, because it was so scrawny, but to Haley, in that moment, it was the best Christmas tree she’d ever had.

  Chapter 15

  Later that afternoon, everyone gathered in the library around a bunch of boxes that were overflowing with Christmas decorations. Haley looked around in awe. There were boxes of Christmas lights in all shapes and sizes. There were multicolored lights and all-white lights. There were strings of just green lights and red lights, gold lights, and silver lights.

  As she walked around, she also found boxes filled with different kinds of beautiful garlands, from the traditional silver glittery kind to others in gold, green, and red. There were even strands of garland that were hot pink. But the real showstoppers were the fancy garlands that mimicked real tree branches. Some already had little twinkly lights added to the branches and were decorated with everything from red ribbon and bows to poinsettias and pinecones and holly berries. Some of the garlands had colored beads woven through the branches along with Christmas ornaments. There was also a box filled with real holly branches and a stack of Christmas wreaths, waiting to be decorated.

  Then there were the Christmas-tree ornaments, hundreds of them, separated by color and theme. Haley walked over to one of the boxes and was surprised to see dozens of different kinds of train ornaments. In another box, she found all kinds of different Santa ornaments, and in the box next to it, she discovered nautical-themed ornaments, including everything from sailboats to starfish.

  When Ben joined her, she was practically speechless. “Wow!” was the one word she could get out.

  Ben chuckled. “It’s really something, isn’t it? Grace loved her ornaments. We’ve been collecting them for years.”

  “That’s really cool.” Haley picked up a cute little red caboose from the train box. It looked vintage. “How old is this one?”

  Ben smiled and looked nostalgic. “That one’s probably about fifty years old. It was mine when I was little. My parents used to give us a new ornament every year, starting with the year we were born, so when we grew up and moved out, we’d already have some Christmas traditions to take with us.”

  “And you took your trains?” Haley asked.

  “I did.” Ben lifted a train engine out of the box. “And it’s a tradition I continued with Jeff. He has his own box here somewhere.”

  Haley looked over at Jeff. He was looking through another box with Ian and Susie. She smiled, seeing how happy everyone looked as they discovered new Christmas treasures in different boxes.

  Ben stepped out to the center of the library to get the group’s attention. “Okay, everyone, are you ready for your next Christmas Camp activity?”

  “We’re ready,” Susie answered enthusiastically, and kissed Ian’s cheek.

  Ben continued: “So, I heard you all found some wonderful Christmas trees today.”

  “We did!” Susie answered again. “Our tree is incredible, right, babe?”

  Ian laughed. “Well, if incredible means huge, yeah, sure, it’s incredible and incredibly heavy to lug out of the forest.”

  Susie laughed. “Don’t mind him, they don’t do a tree in Arizona . . .”

  “We get a Christmas cactus and we put it on a table and put presents underneath it,” Ian said proudly. “It works.”

  Susie’s smile faded. “I can’t even imagine not having a Christmas tree, a real Christmas tree. Susie took a deep breath. “We need to get a real tree at home, not just a Christmas cactus.”

  Ian nodded but didn’t look convinced.

  “Our tree’s pretty cool, too,” Madison said as she wrapped some of the hot-pink garland around her neck.

  “That’s because you got your way, and we got the tree you wanted.” Blake gave his sister an annoyed look.

  “You liked it, too, right, Dad?” Madison asked.

  John looked torn between his two kids. “I thought they all were great, and I’m just thankful to have one.”

  When Madison gave Blake a satisfied look, he just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to a box of nutcrackers.

  Haley hid a smile watching the teenagers be teenagers. Growing up as an only child, she’d never had a sibling to argue with, or for that matter, to hang out with, and watching Blake and Madison, she definitely saw the pluses and minuses. She also couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for poor John, who looked like he needed a break. She walked over and joined him.

  “How’s it going?” she asked.

  John pointed at his two kids, who were still arguing. “Teenagers, what do you do?”

  Ben also joined them. “It can be a trick
y age. I remember when Jeff was sixteen.”

  John looked over at Jeff, who was helping Susie untangle a bunch of Christmas lights. “Well, that’s encouraging because your son turned out pretty great from what I can see. At the very least, you survived to tell the story.”

  Haley laughed.

  Ben gave John a reassuring pat on the back. “And your kids will, too. They have a wonderful dad who cares about them, and that’s the most important thing.”

  John looked over at Blake who was now holding up two nutcrackers, trying to scare Madison with them, and it was working. John shook his head and turned back to Ben. “You know, lately I haven’t felt like a very good dad. Being a doctor, I’m on call twenty-four/seven. I’ve realized these past few years I’ve been putting my patients first, because they needed me, but now I realize my kids need me, too, especially after the divorce. It’s been hard trying to figure out how to do this first Christmas together. I’ve missed so many Christmas activities with them over the years, I don’t even know where to start . . .”

  “Well, you’re starting here, right now, at Christmas Camp,” Ben said. “You’ve already taken the first step by coming here. This is the place for families to come together and reconnect. It’s going to get better. You’ll see.”

  John glanced over at Madison, who was laughing as she draped pink garlands around Blake’s neck that Blake was quickly yanking off. “I sure hope so,” he said, and smiled at Ben. “And I’m very grateful we’re here with you, with everyone.” When John looked at Haley she gave him a reassuring nod.

  “I think Ben’s right: it’ll get better,” she said.

  They both watched as Ben joined Jeff and Susie and in no time had untangled the lights they were struggling with.

  “I guess we all have our Christmas issues.” John laughed a little.

  “We sure do,” Haley agreed.

  Ben picked up a box of lights and looked around the room. “Okay, everyone, let’s get started. I don’t know yet if you’ve seen the theme of the day, but today’s theme is ‘joy.’ The kind of pure joy and happiness you had as a child when you hadn’t a care in the world. I’m hoping, as you all decorate your trees, that you find some of that joy again.”

  “That’s the next activity on our list—decorating, right?” Haley asked.

  Ben nodded and held his arms wide. “You can see we have enough here to decorate the entire forest, so each of you can go around and see what you can find that brings you joy.” He pulled a fistful of candy canes out of a box. “Christmas decorations can bring back wonderful memories.”

  Jeff pulled a pretty crystal icicle from another box. “Or they can help you create some new memories and traditions,” he said, and smiled at his dad.

  Ben nodded. “The important thing is to always remember there’s never any right or wrong way to decorate your Christmas tree as long as it brings you joy.”

  “I love this!” Susie said.

  “You love everything about Christmas,” Ian chimed in.

  “True.” Susie laughed.

  John looked around the room. “Where’s Gail?”

  “She said she needed a little break,” Ben said.

  “She told me that decorating the tree was her favorite thing to do with her son,” Susie said. “So this is probably pretty hard on her. I could go check on her.”

  “Let’s give her the time she asked for,” Ben said. “Sometimes all we need is a little time alone.”

  Susie nodded, but still looked somewhat concerned.

  “We have a lot to choose from, so please go ahead and get started,” Ben said.

  Blake had already dived into the box of nutcrackers and was holding one that was almost two feet high. Excited, he looked around for something to crack. He grabbed his sister’s hand with the nutcracker’s mouth.

  “Hey, knock it off!” Madison yanked her hand away just in time.

  When Blake laughed, John gave him a warning look. “Blake, come on, help us pick some things out.”

  “I already have,” Blake said, holding up the nutcracker. “There’s a whole box of these. We need to put them up all over the room.”

  Madison looked horrified. “What?! No! They’re creepy-looking!”

  “They’re cool! Right, Dad?”

  Madison pulled on her dad’s sleeve. “Dad, tell him no!”

  John covered his face with his hands for a second before facing his dueling teenagers. “Okay, guys, it’s like this: we’re a family, so we all have to agree on how we’re going to decorate. That’s how it works. So, Madison, what’s your idea for decorations?”

  Madison marched over to a box and pulled out another hot-pink garland strand and some matching hot-pink Christmas lights.

  Blake’s eyes grew huge, and not in a good way. “Dad! Pink! Come on!”

  Haley was watching the whole thing and struggled not to laugh.

  John turned to his son. “Blake, what were you thinking for decorations?”

  When Blake held up the nutcracker again, John took it from him. “Besides the nutcrackers?”

  “I don’t really care. I just want the nutcrackers,” Blake insisted stubbornly.

  “Okay, then.” John smiled at his two children. “Blake, you can have your nutcrackers, and Madison, you can have your pink-themed Christmas tree, and we’ll all be one happy family.”

  “Dad!” both kids protested in unison. They were clearly not experiencing any Christmas joy.

  Haley turned her attention from John and his family to Jeff, who was busy going through a box of sparkling silver star ornaments. She then looked over at Ben, who was helping Ian and Susie go through another box. She slowly inched toward the door. She knew this was her chance to leave without anyone seeing her. When she got to the door, she gave one more quick look around the room to make sure the coast was clear. When she saw Max looking at her, she held her finger up to her mouth. “Shhh,” she whispered to him, and then silently slipped out. She needed a break from the Christmas overload.

  As she was heading down the hall to her room, she stopped outside Gail’s door when she thought she heard someone crying inside. She hesitated for a moment and then continued walking, but she only got a few steps before she turned around, walked back to Gail’s room, and knocked softly.

  “Gail, it’s me, Haley.”

  A few seconds later, when Gail opened the door, Haley could see tears in her eyes. As Gail quickly tried to brush them away, she also tried to smile. “Hi,” she said in a quiet, sad voice.

  Haley kept smiling, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. “I just wanted to let you know we’re all downstairs picking out decorations for our Christmas trees. I thought maybe you’d want to join us?”

  Gail looked touched. “Thank you, Haley, that’s very sweet of you, but I’m just feeling a little . . . tired right now.”

  “Okay, I understand,” Haley said. When something sparkly caught her eye, she looked past Gail into her room and saw that it was decorated in a star theme.

  “Ah, so you have the star room?” she asked. “It looks very pretty.”

  Gail opened the door wider so Haley could get a better look. “It really is beautiful. Would you like to come in and see it?”

  “I would love to.” Haley followed her into the room. The walls were painted a soft baby blue with little silver stars, and the ceiling was sapphire blue, like the night sky, with white stars. The star theme continued with a canopy of tiny white twinkling lights above an all-white bed covered with silver star pillows.

  “Wow,” she said as she took it all in. “This is really magical. I feel like I’m outside looking up into the sky.”

  Gail nodded, picked up one of the star pillows, and held it to her heart. “Ben said he gave it to me because he says the stars in the sky are the people we’ve loved and lost, watching down on us, protecting us.”

  Touched by Gail’s words, Haley looked up at the ceiling. “That’s really beautiful.”

  “Isn’t it?” Gail looked up a
t the ceiling, too. “I’d like to think my husband is up there watching over our son, Ryan.”

  “I’m sure he is,” Haley said softly, and then noticed a Christmas tree in the corner. It stood about five feet high and was perfectly proportioned. She walked over to study it closer. She touched the needles and recognized it was a Douglas fir. “I like your tree.”

  Gail smiled. “It is a pretty one, isn’t it? Ben helped me cut it down.”

  “Oh, really?” Haley smiled back. “Because Jeff made me cut my own down. He said it was one of the Christmas Camp rules.”

  “Then I guess I got lucky.” Gail smiled again.

  “I think you did.” As Haley looked at the tree her face lit up. “Wait, I have an idea. Can you give me a second, I’ll be right back, okay?” She was already headed for the door.

  “Okay . . .”

  Haley ran down the hall and didn’t stop until she was back in the library, where she headed straight for Jeff.

  He looked surprised to see her. “I thought you’d snuck off to your room to do some work.”

  “No, although that’s not a bad idea—I have so much work to do—it’s not why I left.” She looked around. “Where is that box of silver stars you had before?”

  Jeff walked over to a box and picked it up. “This one?”

  Haley’s eyes lit up. “Yup, that’s the one! Can I borrow it?”

  When she held out her hands, Jeff placed the box in them.

  “Sure, here you go. It’s all yours.”

  “Thanks.” Haley grinned at him then hurried out the door.

  A minute later she was knocking on Gail’s door. This time Gail answered right away. “You’re back . . . that was quick.” She looked at the box with curiosity. “What do you have there?”

  “It’s for you.” Haley handed her the box, then waited for her to look inside and see all the star ornaments. “I thought these would be perfect for your tree and that you might like some help decorating.”