If I had all of the money I wanted to spend at Christmas, I wouldn't have any trouble coming up with "perfect" gifts for my loved ones. As it is, my funds are severely limited, so I have to pick and choose what to get. There have only been a very few times when I had brainstorms that turned into perfect Christmas gifts.
The first time was when I was in college (1968?). My mother had expressed interest in Andrew Wyeth's painting "Christina's World" because it reminded her of her childhood on the farm. I was waltzing through an art store in Bloomington, IL, and saw a copy of the painting. Bingo! I'll get that for Mom! I ordered it. Dad could make a frame! Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that the art store would have to "prepare" it...and the cost was a whopping $24. (Doesn't sound like much by today's standards, but back then, it was a LOT for a college student.) I had the print in my hands, all wrapped in brown paper, for Thanksgiving weekend, to hand over to Dad for the frame. When my mother came to pick me up from Illinois State University to take me to my grandparent's farm for the weekend, we packed the car...then stopped in El Paso, IL, for a bite to eat. That's when I began to think about the picture. I couldn't remember putting it in the car. A quick check of the trunk turned up empty. No picture. I remembered putting it on the roof of the car as we were packing...and my heart sank. What to do? I told my mother that we had to go back to Normal...to retrace our route. Told her that it was a poster for a class that I had worked hard on and desperately needed. God bless her...we did go back to backtrack over where we had been...and found the silly picture in the middle of the road on College Avenue. A corner of it had been run over, but it was otherwise intact! I don't know if my mother ever understood how panicked I was that evening...if Dad ever told her before she opened her present on Christmas Day...but I was scared to death that my $24 investment had been lost. Whew!
The second "perfect gift" occurred when my daughter was living on Friendswood Golf Course and was pregnant with my granddaughter. I gave her and her husband FRS radios so that she could be in touch with him when he was on the course. Unfortunately, you have to have the FRS with you and turned on in order for it to work...which Nathan often didn't. A couple of years later, as an afterthought, I picked up a Tracfone for Megan fo Christmas. (Cell phones were just becoming popular.) A few months later, when they moved to Muncie, the stupid phone became extremely valuable in their ability to coordinate the move. It was a start...
The last brainstorm gift occurred just last Christmas. Megan and Denis were about to leave for California, permanently. I barely knew him and didn't really know what to give her. Money, of course...but what else? I saw a Walmart ad for GPS systems on sale. GPS! Perfect! They were about to embark on a cross-country trip and could probably use one! I bought the silly thing and they have used the daylights out of it. In fact, Denis had it set up in Meg's minivan before the Christmas event was over, and both of them had figured out how to use it. (It would have taken me a whole lot longer!) The GPS is named "Linda"...and she provides an authoritative voice in the vehicle. "Recalculating!"
We had a dusting of snow in Plainfield this morning, but apparently there was more in Indy, causing all kinds of problems on the roads. Winter weather, folks. Time to slow down and remember how to drive in the slick stuff!
Will be leaving for IL in the next couple of days. My neighbors and the police will keep an eye on the place for me while I'm gone. I do look forward to being with my blood family. Shari, if you are reading this, let's eat light. I'm gaining weight too fast!
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