Last week I made my way to Union Square to meet with a friend for lunch somewhere in the vicinity. And along the way I felt the need to  journal the following:

All these years I had no idea the tree in union square was artificial. I think in my childhood days it was a real tree I vaguely recall being delivered on a bed of a truck from Oregon or… maybe I am wrong.

My favorite word, luring me as always into Macy. I think it all started with the Macy shopping bags, on it stamped the word Believe. Now its a full-blown sign displayed in the window. Naturally I had to walk into the store.

And see what was on the other side of the sign. The traditional Santa mailbox is what I found. A reflection of my childhood days or even as a grown up writing a letter to Santa. Yeah I did it, as a grown up, I wrote a letter or two to Santa and dropped it in that very mailbox.

written on a  beautifully printed postcard, courtesy of Macy.  Now it’s an iPad, lacking in my opinion imagination. It would have been nicer to stay traditional on this one. Call me old-fashioned I suppose.

And then I walked into the Christmas shop, now only a small section in the store. There I found my favorite ornament for 2015. That’s right I buy an ornament a year, not to maintain a uniform decoration for my tree, but rather a collection of things I admire and appreciate the most. This year it is  a Yorkie ornament for my sweet and aging dog.

Tell us your favorite childhood memory of Christmas which is no longer a tradition.