Rodney Curtis

Well, they unstuffed me from my cardboard box in the basement and fluffed my limbs, so I guess it’s time to make merry again. So far, all I have on me right now are my ever-present lights, which they keep me dressed in all year. The ornaments will come in due course and the presents underneath me, but let me take a few moments to breathe deeply, reflect on the year and sneeze off some of this dust. It’s not easy being evergreen.

First, I noticed something right away. My two younger brothers are also out of their boxes and standing proud around the house. That didn’t happen last year; I think the family was still recovering. But now three of us are stationed around the place and that’s always a good sign. Festive, yes, but it tells of the energy here. There’s even a Christmas rug in the kitchen; who the heck has a Christmas rug?

This family has spent the past year distancing themselves from 2010. That year was a plague. 2011 was the cure. There were weeks on end when no one came down into the basement, except the dogs tended by a family friend here and there. They traveled all over the place, (the family, not the dogs). They visited New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Canada, Oregon, Seattle, North Carolina, Kentucky, even seeing some small towns in Ohio. Some quick stops in DC and Philly also kept them away from home. It was good to see them out and active again. That’s the Curtis family we know and love. Although did they bring me anything? Hello! Ornaments?

Their youngest took up a new sport, lacrosse it’s called. Don’t ask me what it is but she loves it. She also went back to her go-to passions of acting and diving. The kid’s amazing. As beautiful as she is long, she even beat her sister onto the Michigan roads and now drives everywhere. We hear a lot of singing going on upstairs and it appears that both of them are taking voice lessons.

The older teen is looking to leave and has been examining small liberal arts colleges, emphasis on liberal. Acting has been her passion, working behind the scenes as well as in the spotlight. Marching band and leading various progressive groups keep her busy. So much so that when our city mayor said something dumb and hurtful, she organized a protest and ended up on CNN, The Huffington Post and lots of other places too. If you’ll allow a tree pun, she’s really branched out!

The mother or wife or whatever role she’s playing was always, always busy this year, thank goodness. She takes pictures of everything; weddings, seniors, families, even semi-naked housewives, but we’re not supposed to know that. It looks like she has a nice breather for now until the photo season starts up again. So she decided to remodel their home office. I hear dragging and banging and smell painting right up above me lately.

The guy who lives here looks a bit different this year, but he has a smile and that’s all that really matters. He hoisted my heavy trunk up the stairs so he seems to be faring rather well. From what I can gather, he’s been doing some charity work here and there, writing a lot too, but mostly just going through the process of getting better. It may seem slow to him, but wow, what a difference a year makes!

Look, I gotta get dressed and spruce up a bit. Get it? Spruce up! So I’ll let you go. If the family doesn’t say it, I want to wish you a great holiday season from all of us: fake trees, dogs, messy rooms and humans. Have an amazing 2012 and try, unlike us trees, to live outside of the box.