Monica and I had a pretty lean Christmas this year in terms of time and gifts for one another (Not surprising with the new mortgage and lots of unpacking still to be done). We decided to forgo presents for each other and just stick with stocking stuffers and I was perfectly happy with it.
But even though things are crazy and tight for everyone, my family pulled through with some really neat gifts that mean a lot to me.
My mom got us a new house survival kit with all kinds of goodies to help us get through these first few months, from sponges and rubberbands, to Home Depot gift cards, to chocolate and Top Ramen. Each gift was individually wrapped and came with a cute card, so Monica got to open a bunch of presents.
My grandma sent us a couple of old photos and a map to be framed. The first was a photograph of my great great grandfather’s family from 1922. The second was a photo of men waiting to run in the great Oklahoma land rush of 1893 in which one of my ancestor’s got his land. The map is an 1871 map of Kansas and the Indian Territory (as Oklahoma was called then). Really cool.
old family photos and a map of Kansas
But as thoughtful as the gifts from my mom and my grandma were, they didn’t make me smile quite as much as the gifts from my great grandma Verla. She is a wonderful 93 year-old lady who always speaks her mind and spends her time cheating at cards and dominoes with the other ladies at the retirement home. One of a kind.
Normally, we’d get a 5-dollar bill and a hand-written note telling us how things are going and what aches and pains she has, but this year we got something a little more personalized. Grandma Verla personalized some cute hankies with our names, by embroidering them with a black ball point pen.
Grandma Verla's Hankies
Straight from the heart, this is a gift that I will keep and cherish always.