Turning a festive corner and finding yourself

 

John in front of a Christmas tree full of surprises.

We were going to give West Vancouver’s Forest of Miracles a miss. It’s a parade of dozens of Christmas trees on the Dundarave waterfront, decorated by various businesses and organizations as a charity drive, and we’ve seen it many times.

But come on, I said to John. “They put a lot of effort into this. The least we can do is look.”

It was the usual display; construction hats on the builder’s tree, symbols of faith on the church’s tree, and so on. But partway down one of the rows, John stopped and pointed at something: “That’s my grandmother!” he said.

Imagine finding your old family photos on a tree on the Dundarave waterfront.

“No!” I said. A closer look revealed a laminated photo of a woman peeking over a pile of presents in her lap. “You’re making that up!”

“And that’s me! With the accordion!” John was pointing to another photo, this of a youth with an early-Elvis hairdo, sitting with an accordion in a threatening-to-play position.

“That’s not you! It can’t be.” John, Mr. Cool, with an accordion! Even more unbelievable, the guy who’s been staging a losing battle with hair loss since age 17 with a pompadour!

Here's John with his accordion in his grandparents' living room. 

And his grandmother with gifts up to the chin.

Yes, all true. We’d happened on a tree sponsored by the West Vancouver Historical Society. The old family photos were some that John had donated to the archives many years ago.

 He still has copies of these photos himself, but it was something, coming across them unexpectedly in a public venue like that.

Suddenly, there was his Scottish grandmother, she of the unforgettable scones, in the living room of the West Vancouver house built room by room by his grandfather. And John himself, before I knew him, with a musical instrument he soon abandoned, with a hairdo soon replaced by a crewcut for his track days. And surrounding them both, photos of old Christmas décor and concerts, papa carving the turkey, and family gatherings that spoke of a simpler, more basic era.

Message to John:  When you’ve grown up in a place, it’s worth taking a few extra minutes to tour the trees. You just might turn a corner and find yourself.

The West Vancouver Historical Society tree was just one of many in the charity fundraising event. We could have easily have missed it!