Early this week, I noticed a discarded Christmas tree lying on the corner of N and Fifth in South Boston.  Hmmm? Wonder what happened there, I asked myself. I posted a short video on Instagram, with the theme from The Grinch as audio, and there were lots of comments like “someone tapped out early” to “maybe they went back to CT for the holidays.” And “maybe the tree fell off someone’s car?” Everyone had a theory. Well, the owner of the tree reached out with his “Grinch Origin Story.”

The tree belonged to Southie residents, Albert Feldman and Greg Dekermenjian.  While the married couple was at a family holiday dinner, they returned home to find a pine needle/broken ornament/water mess “massacre.”

A fallen tree is enough to set anyone off during the stressful holiday season. Instead of trying to put it back up, it was decided that Christmas was officially over, and according to Feldman, “maybe for a few years.”  “It’s my Grinch origin story,” he added.  The mess was painstakingly cleaned up, the ornaments and lights were stripped, and the tree was put out for trash pickup.  Done.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Caught in Southie (@caughtinsouthie)

So that’s the story. It was good while it lasted, but sometimes shit happens, and you’ve gotta clean up the mess and move forward. And that’s exactly what Feldman and Dekermenjian did.

Happier times. The tree before the fall.

The couple owns and operates Sky Candle Co. and has a pop-up shop in Snowport in addition to a brick-and-mortar shop in the South End and Needham.  Follow Sky Candle Co on Instagram, too!