The Christmas Season always started with her tree, which she was fiercely proud of.

Standing no fewer than 10-feet high and adorned with a minimum of 8,000 white lights each year, Mom’s tree was something she took pride in each and every year. In Mom’s 40’s and 50’s, she would begin the tree the Monday after Thanksgiving and it would take her about a week to put up, but as she aged, she began putting it up earlier and earlier. In 2019, the last year Linda put up her tree, she began on November 1st “so I can enjoy it longer” she told us.

The tree proudly displayed crystal and hand-cut glass ornaments that were procured around the world by Linda, her family and friends. There was only two rules - the ornaments had to be completely clear and lacking in color and they had to be crystal or glass; no plastic. But, every rule is meant to be broken and one of our favorite family “inside jokes” was that Linda’s favorite ornament - amongst them the beauty and cost of the rest - was her clear plastic Energizer bunny that was the first to be put up and the last to be taken down, hung front and center, each year.