“Happy” Mouse has seen some things. He has graced our Christmas tree every holiday season since 1982, though I’m not sure when I insisted that Happy take a place of high honor as the lowest-hanging ornament on the tree. Maybe he’s been the lowest hanger since the start.
His 2024 Christmas tree placement made Happy, quite by accident, the angel hovering over the under-the-tree Nativity. The old mouse seems aptly fit for that role.
What theme or motif does your Christmas tree follow? (Or maybe you call it a yule tree, a holiday tree, or even a Festivus pole. Okay, laugh now, you Seinfeld fanatics.) Back when Happy was still a young pup, the women at the newspaper where I was working were comparing notes about their holiday decor; one was using a “late Victorian” theme with huge (gawdy) bows and ribbons, another was going with “rustic Americana.” They asked me to describe the Jackson’s tree decorating style.
My response: “Late twentieth century refrigerator door.”
And that was accurate. Most of the ornaments were hand-made, kid-made, and quite possibly came from being displayed on the refrigerator. That simple approach is still the theme these many years later, though the decor has matured and aged with the DNA of memories, stories, and flickering glimpses of Christmases of yore.
Take Happy, for instance. Through his forty-three Christmas seasons, he has overseen our holiday trees during the presidencies of Reagan, Bush I, Clinton (x2), Bush II (x2), Obama (x2), that other guy, the guy who beat that other guy, and now that other guy again. Think about it. Happy has seen some things.
Happy is always the last ornament on the tree. Of course, I’m the keeper and hanger, and before placing him in a low-hanging place of prominence, I take a few moments to gaze into his still-playful little eyes, check his weathered mitts, and take stock of more oh-so-subtle signs of aging. It’s kind of like looking into a mirror, I suppose.
I fashioned a little COVID mask for Happy in 2020. Ironic, now, because the accompanying photo shows Happy just moments before beginning his angelic watch over Christmas 2024. And it shows me just eighteen hours away from testing positive for that dreadful virus.
May your 2024 holiday season be full of peace and joy. I wish you a Merry Christmas.
