This year I told the girls that under no circumstances are they to give me a list of what they want for Christmas. “But why not?” they whined. “Because you’re grownups with jobs and can buy anything you want for yourselves!” I replied. “Plus, I think I know you well enough to be able to pick out something appropriate.” Sheesh!
So without a list Kitty became very nervous, thinking that I wouldn’t get it right. She resorted to dropping ideas in casual conversation. “Oh mom, remember how much I enjoyed Fat Albert as a kid? I bet the entire collection would be nice for someone to have.” Or calling me from the mall before work: “Hey mom, I’m sending you a picture of these really neat hoods they have here in the mall. My hood is getting kind of old. Just saying!” Yep: she’s a subtle as a Mack truck.
Brie isn’t as bad. She said, “You know me well enough to get me something I’ll like. And I know you don’t have much money, so whatever you find for me is fine.”
I tested this theory. I went around the kitchen, picking up random items. “Okay then, how about I wrap up this can of dog food, this grapefruit, this Harlequin romance, my CD, the Yankee candle in the middle of the table and this roll of paper towels? Is that okay? I can wrap them right up!” Brie said, “Kitty! Mom is going to wrap up all of this stuff for Christmas presents!” Kitty got an alarmed look on her face and said, “But those are your gifts, right?” Brie and I had to laugh at that!
With Christmas speeding towards us due to our late Thanksgiving, and roundabout talk of presents, I started thinking of what my favorite present was. And you’ll be very surprised…
When I was a child, we always went to North Carolina for Christmas because that’s where my parents were originally from. We had lots of relatives down there, and it was always fun to get together with the southern cousins for a few days. My family always stayed with my maternal grandparents and I adored them. They didn’t have much: Granddaddy was a tobacco farmer and Grandma was a housewife. But what they didn’t have in material possessions they more than made up for in love. They had a cozy house with a woodstove for heat. Grandma was an AWESOME cook, and those were the days when no one worried about cholesterol, or sugar or fried foods.
But getting to the best present ever: my Grandma had a sewing machine and she would always make me an outfit, like a jumper with a blouse to go with it. As much as I loved her homemade clothes, there was something that was even better…
Each Christmas, for all of the kids, she would take a small paper lunch bag and fill it with nuts like Brazils, pecans and walnuts; one orange, one apple and some of that old-fashioned hard mixed candy that usually ended up sticking to everything. But that was the present that I always looked forward to the most! I can’t explain it: but that bag of treats from a woman I loved so much always meant the world to me, even if I didn’t eat all of the candy (couldn’t stand the raspberry filled and would give them to my brother, haha). That little paper bag represented love, warmth, wonderful food and a cozy wood fire. It represented Grandma rocking the youngest kids in her rocking chair. And mostly it represented family and love.
Now I can’t imagine what my girls would do if they opened their stockings on Christmas and discovered something like that in it. But to me: if I found that, it would be a very Merry Christmas…love you Cleo 💖
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