Christmas is creeping into my consciousness. Not surprising considering the snow has arrived and everywhere we went yesterday in the city stores were already trimmed with festive decor in tandem with waning Hallowe'en decorations.
I've sent the E-Mail that asks for Christmas gift suggestions...with the understanding that 'just because you ask, doesn't mean you get'.
I have spent the afternoon perusing catalogues 'in hand' and 'on line' thinking, choosing, adding, re choosing, and dreaming of faces as presents are opened, examined, and used. Sometimes, unfortunately, even after all the careful planning, gifts fall short of expectations, wants, needs, or even frivolous desires, but that doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed the process.
My DAD was the best gift giver ever--bar none! He had a knack of sensing just what the best present would be. He would give the thing that would 'hit the mark' or 'get the look' (1) when opened, and consequently be treasured for years to come. I am thinking now of the gold/pearl pierced earrings he bought for all his daughters, the flashlights on another occasion, and the re bar gizmo designed to place under the back tires of a stuck car, along with a snow shovel so I wouldn't stay in the ditch ( being the lonely spinster that I was as I travelled alone, across the barren winter prairie).
Other treasured gifts that I have received over the years is an I Love Moo Cow decoration as well as a Beta Fish and Plant from one of my children. Measuring cups was a great choice made by another. The embroidered angel picture from the crafty daughter is part of every Christmas decor, as well as is the wooden Nativity garland from yet another.
Presents sometimes give the biggest surprises not only to the the recipient but also to the giver.
The biggest surprise to a Giver in this house was the Christmas morning when two recipients went running delightedly towards the opposite stockings filled with really interesting and surprising gifts. Apparently Givers can get mixed up late at night, in the dark, in the quiet, after a long day of cooking, wrapping, organizing, and planning.
As a child I had a childless woman in my life, (a distant cousin), who bought presents for the all youngsters in the neighbourhood. Sometimes she missed the mark horribly in terms of age appropriateness and interest. I received a woman's glove and scarf set one year which was quite flattering as I was only eight years old. The next year I received an orange/red heavy beaded necklace which was less than beautiful, and was considered to this then nine year old even more hideous because I saw what a beautiful locket the neighbour girl had received from this same lady. I mention this incident of ungratefulness on my part to point out that the process of gift getting is as much an art form as is the process of gift giving.
Sometimes even if the gift misses the mark in terms of value, usefulness, or interest on the part of the recipient, one must never loose sight of the fact that a grand and precise process of thinking, choosing, judging, and evaluating goes into a Giver's effort to find something that is just 'right' is the real gift.
It is the process that should be treasured no matter what you find in the box.
I hope the recipients of my gifts will think of what has happened 'outside' the box no matter what they find inside their packages.
..and I? I will continue to savour the memories of Christmas' past with presents such as dark chocolate, wooden spoons, fancy coffees, wine, pillows, earrings, crystal glasses, cookbooks, games, bubble bath, white chocolate, candles, bowls and books, gloves, ornaments, silverware, and measuring cups.
Thank you.
(1) The look is the look that is given from the recipient to the giver as they open the parcel which means "You listened" " You know" "You got just the right thing." A formal Thank-you is a redundancy after the look has been given. Nothing else really needs to be said but often is. If you ever have received the look, you are thinking of it right now....a nice feeling eh?
I got the look when I have my Dad a Legion Pin he had been wanting and had given up ever getting; when I gave my husband a filled stocking the first Christmas we were together; when I gave my son a copy of the Brave Little Toaster when he was 28; when one of my daughters got an Elmo chair; when my other daughter received an axe and a BillyBong; and when another daughter received a milkshake maker; and, finally, when my Mom found a crystal porcupine in the bottom of a slow cooker one Christmas morning.
May your presents be many,
And your gifts bring them joy.
May the looks that are given,
Warm your heart with a glow,
With memories of Christmases from long, long, ago.
I've sent the E-Mail that asks for Christmas gift suggestions...with the understanding that 'just because you ask, doesn't mean you get'.
I have spent the afternoon perusing catalogues 'in hand' and 'on line' thinking, choosing, adding, re choosing, and dreaming of faces as presents are opened, examined, and used. Sometimes, unfortunately, even after all the careful planning, gifts fall short of expectations, wants, needs, or even frivolous desires, but that doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed the process.
My DAD was the best gift giver ever--bar none! He had a knack of sensing just what the best present would be. He would give the thing that would 'hit the mark' or 'get the look' (1) when opened, and consequently be treasured for years to come. I am thinking now of the gold/pearl pierced earrings he bought for all his daughters, the flashlights on another occasion, and the re bar gizmo designed to place under the back tires of a stuck car, along with a snow shovel so I wouldn't stay in the ditch ( being the lonely spinster that I was as I travelled alone, across the barren winter prairie).
Other treasured gifts that I have received over the years is an I Love Moo Cow decoration as well as a Beta Fish and Plant from one of my children. Measuring cups was a great choice made by another. The embroidered angel picture from the crafty daughter is part of every Christmas decor, as well as is the wooden Nativity garland from yet another.
Presents sometimes give the biggest surprises not only to the the recipient but also to the giver.
The biggest surprise to a Giver in this house was the Christmas morning when two recipients went running delightedly towards the opposite stockings filled with really interesting and surprising gifts. Apparently Givers can get mixed up late at night, in the dark, in the quiet, after a long day of cooking, wrapping, organizing, and planning.
As a child I had a childless woman in my life, (a distant cousin), who bought presents for the all youngsters in the neighbourhood. Sometimes she missed the mark horribly in terms of age appropriateness and interest. I received a woman's glove and scarf set one year which was quite flattering as I was only eight years old. The next year I received an orange/red heavy beaded necklace which was less than beautiful, and was considered to this then nine year old even more hideous because I saw what a beautiful locket the neighbour girl had received from this same lady. I mention this incident of ungratefulness on my part to point out that the process of gift getting is as much an art form as is the process of gift giving.
Sometimes even if the gift misses the mark in terms of value, usefulness, or interest on the part of the recipient, one must never loose sight of the fact that a grand and precise process of thinking, choosing, judging, and evaluating goes into a Giver's effort to find something that is just 'right' is the real gift.
It is the process that should be treasured no matter what you find in the box.
I hope the recipients of my gifts will think of what has happened 'outside' the box no matter what they find inside their packages.
..and I? I will continue to savour the memories of Christmas' past with presents such as dark chocolate, wooden spoons, fancy coffees, wine, pillows, earrings, crystal glasses, cookbooks, games, bubble bath, white chocolate, candles, bowls and books, gloves, ornaments, silverware, and measuring cups.
Thank you.
(1) The look is the look that is given from the recipient to the giver as they open the parcel which means "You listened" " You know" "You got just the right thing." A formal Thank-you is a redundancy after the look has been given. Nothing else really needs to be said but often is. If you ever have received the look, you are thinking of it right now....a nice feeling eh?
May your presents be many,
And your gifts bring them joy.
May the looks that are given,
Warm your heart with a glow,
With memories of Christmases from long, long, ago.
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