A California family is celebrating an unusual holiday tradition: they’ve been decorating the very same Christmas tree for more than four decades — and it’s alive.
Joe and Gina Mistretta told Los Angeles station KCAL that they bought a potted Scotch pine 42 years ago, when it stood just three feet tall (back when Ronald Reagan was president). In 1983, it was small enough to hold only a single string of lights. Instead of tossing it after the holidays, they planted it in their backyard and kept it growing.
“We’ve kept it alive for 42 years,” Gina said. “It’s been our only tree that we’ve had in our family.”
Over the years, the couple welcomed two sons, Michael and Joe Jr., and the tree has been part of their lives for as long as they can remember.
“Seeing it, it just feels so wonderful that we raised this tree for many years,” Michael said. “And it’s been part of our family our entire lives.”
More than 40 years later, the approximately 300-pound tree still takes real effort to manage. The family once widened their front door just to bring it inside. In a 2017 interview with KCAL, Joe said it had been repotted four times, survived a fire, and continued to grow alongside the family through major life moments.
The tree and its ornaments, Joe explained, have become a kind of living record — a “time capsule of our life” — with decorations collected from their travels and memories tied to loved ones who are no longer there.
KCAL’s 2017 story also noted that the pine was in the family’s home when Michael was diagnosed with leukemia at 13, and it was still there five years later when he announced he was in remission.
“I don’t wanna sound crazy, but it’s more than a tree,” Gina said. “It’s part of our family.”
The Mistrettas say they don’t plan to part with it anytime soon. As Yale reports, Scotch pines can live between 150 and 300 years — and some trees have survived for more than 700 years.
Gina admits it isn’t always picture-perfect and can sometimes look more like a Christmas bush than a classic tree. Still, she wouldn’t change it.
“We like it this way,” she said.
Joe sees the tradition as a reminder that the spirit of the season shouldn’t be limited to one day.
“Christmas is celebrated as a holiday,” he said, “but it really has to be something that you keep in your heart all year round.”
He added, “You think about what we do at Christmastime — we’re kinder to people, we’re more generous to people. … If more people did that, then Christmas wouldn’t be just a day that people celebrate, it would be a spirit.”
