The Cookie Christmas Tree

My family arrived in Colorado Springs in November 1975, just in time for Thanksgiving. We definitely had a lot to be thankful for. We stayed with the Tostanoskis for a few months. When my dad was offered a job in San Francisco from Maersk Steamship Co., the Danish company whose cargo vessel rescued us, the Tostonaskis helped prepare us for the transition to our new lives in California. I asked Ba Ski what her fondest memory of those few months in 1975 was, and she happily said spending Christmas with our family. She then launched into a detailed account of creating "The Christmas Cookie Tree," the little treat that brought everyone together. As she reminisced, I couldn't help but feel a bit of nostalgia, even though I have absolutely no memory of that experience.