This year, I was able to finally put up a Christmas tree. It’s the first time in years since I moved out that I’ve had an actual Christmas tree up and not just a few little mantlepiece decorations scattered around the apartment.

I feel like a real grown-up. Of course, I still live in a one-bedroom apartment so my tree is only three feet tall and plastic. But it’s a step forward for me. What I miss most about home during this time of year – besides my family, obviously – is the Christmas tree. And I’m not talking plastic, I’m talking the big, beautiful real Christmas tree that fills the house with that woody, pine scent and sheds needles like crazy for the three weeks leading up to Christmas.

Photo: Unsplash/Ralph (Ravi) Kayden

Most of us probably have fond memories of having a real tree in our homes growing up. As a kid, I loved decorating the Christmas tree. I was always sad to see it go on January 7th, when we’d take down the ornaments and then put the tree outside in the alleyway to await trash day pick up.

But by then it was already starting to dry out and lose its color. You see that a lot in the weeks following Christmas, all the dried out, fire hazard Christmas trees awaiting their fate as compost. But for one Southern California family, their Christmas tree ended up lasting for much longer than anticipated. Years, as a matter of fact!

Photo: Stock Snap

It all began back in 1983 when Gina and Joe Mistretta went out to pick up a real Christmas tree. The couple ended up selecting a potted Scotch pine that wasn’t any bigger than 3 feet. In fact, it was so small and delicate it was barely able to hold up a string of lights. But, since it was potted, the couple were able to keep their Christmas tree once the holiday had finished.

They moved the Christmas tree from their living room out to the backyard where it stayed for years. And much to everyone’s surprise, it did quite well.

Photo: Pixabay/Jill Wellington

Joe was even quoted back in 2017 talking to CBS News about his tree, saying, “I enjoy trimming it, I go out there, I spend a little time with it. Yeah, I’m a tree talker now.”

Their little “Christmas tree that could” has survived many different life events – from the birth of the couple’s sons and a house move. It has even survived a fire! And, it has also since been repotted. Nowadays, the entire Mistretta family gathers in tradition to wheel the almost 300-pound tree into their home every year for Christmas.

Photo: Stock Snap/Dariusz Sbirenda

As Gina explained to CBS News, “There is no perfect life, there is no perfect tree and we like it that way. And the ornaments that we put on it are not perfectly put in the perfect spot, but they mean something to us.”

While the family hasn’t appeared in the media since their 2017 interview, all of us are hoping that their Christmas tree is doing well and preparing to once again make a holiday appearance. Given that Scotch pine trees can live for hundred years – sometimes longer – our hope remains!