The Christmas when I was seven I got the perfect present. It was in my stocking an probably cost my mom less than $1. It was a jump rope. It was all I wanted and all I remember getting that Christmas. I'm sure I got plenty of other presents, but that jump rope was PERFECT.
G's perfect present this year was a set of Hello Kitty Crazy Eight's cards that Grammy Pammy put in her package. I'm not sure if Pammy knew when she wrapped them up, but they were PERFECT! She and Ada played Crazy Eight's all vacation (cheating to their heart's content, I might add). G has all sorts of Crazy Eight strategy, which she will gladly share with you. She even refrains from cheating just so I'll play with her.
I loved all my presents, but my perfect present came from my brother Dan. He gave me the softest, warmest hat and the softest comfiest pair of socks. I didn't know that I wanted them, but they are PERFECT! When it's just too cold inside, I put on my fuzzy socks and slip into my fuzzy house shoes (another perfect gift, but I picked them out, so it kind of doesn't count. sorry J). The double fuzzy comfiness thaws even the most frozen toes.
The possibility of giving the perfect gift is one of the reasons I love to give friends and family gifts. One year we found out that we had given the perfect gift when we had given Adam a whole bunch of Chinese calligraphy brushes, ink and paper. We'd purchased everything from the dollar store in Taiwan, so we really hadn't spent a lot. And we weren't even thinking it would be the perfect gift. But turned out, Ad had a good time showing Mikey how to draw calligraphy. Perfect.
And sometimes, what seemed like a nice gift later becomes The Perfect Present. At M's baby shower someone gave me an 18 month outfit. Honestly, I thought she was crazy. I couldn't imagine her ever fitting those clothes. But less than a year later nothing she had fit. She had grown so quickly and we had moved so I had no clothes for the poor girl (she was literally poor as she was the daughter of a new grad student). Then I found the purple outfit in the closet. Ta da! Perfect Present!
So thank you for the perfect presents and thank you for the almost perfect presents, because you never know. Next year, they may become The Perfect Present.
I'm glad to hear about the cards. I love imagining them playing. How old is Gwyn? Five going on fifteen?
ReplyDeletethis is the perfect post. i recently enjoyed reading a talk by Henry B. Eyring on giving the perfect "gift". it was a talk published as a little booklet and sent as a christmas card, which itself became a great gift for me. i'm glad you have warm feet thanks to your warm fuzzy footwear.
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