Christmas Memories

When we were at my inlaws' house celebrating Christmas, my sister in law asked everyone what the worst Christmas present they ever got. (This was an unusual question, I thought. Normally people ask your favorite memory or present, or the most meaningful Christmas). Everyone went around the table talking about the unwanted gifts they got in years past. Landon said his was when he got underwear for Christmas (He has NEVER gotten underwear for Christmas!).

Finally it was my turn, I thought of several gifts, most of which were given to me by my grandmothers. They are both well intentioned, but seem to give unusual gifts. This year's present from my grandmother, was the most bizarre of all. A couple of weeks before Christmas I stopped by her house to visit. She was asking about our Christmas plans with my mother and said that she and her husband would be joining us for dinner at my mom's house on Christmas day. Soon after she said she got the kid's a special Christmas present, and wanted to go ahead and give it to them since she might not see them. I reminded her that we would see them Christmas day and she should wait until then. (My grandmother's memory is horrible! The doctor's told her several years ago that she is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. Frankly, I think we are beyond the beginning stages!) I stayed at my grandmother's house for about 20 minutes. During that time we had the same conversation about the gift at least 3 more times.

When Christmas day came, my grandmother and her husband came over for dinner. She had a grocery sack with the present inside (she never wraps any gifts). She explained that she had a friend that gave this to her grandchildren and she thought it was so wonderful, that she wanted to do the same for all of her great grandchildren. The kids were excited, they opened the sack and found a book. They love books! We opened the book and it was empty, a bunch of blank pages. The pages had headings, questions, and topics on them similar to a baby book, but nothing was written on them. My grandmother explained that her friend had filled in all the pages for her grandchildren, but that she just did not have the time and thought I could do it. The questions on the pages were things about our family history and special memories. "Just what I need," I thought, "One more thing to feel guilty about not doing". (I have already written about how much I hate scrapbooking!). I thanked my grandmother and tried to act sincere. I closed the book, and noticed the title on the front of the cover: A Grandmother's Gift of Memory!