Posted in Its a CARNIVAL
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The Most Memorable Gift I Have Ever Received
As a child I spent some time at my Meemaw and Pawpaw's home in Louisiana. I would spend a week or two at a time. When I went there were always toys for me to play with. I never had to take anything because there were the special things that were only used at their home. Among those things were some dolls and books and a little floppy teddy bear. My brothers and I had our own special toys that were exclusively our own and did not have to be shared. The bear was that toy for me. Over the years I played with him until he just hardly had any stuffing left in him.
Over the years we spent Christmas either at home or at my Grandparents home. If we were at my Meemaw's home she had this little tree she put up on a table or piano. I still have that tree in my attic and will use it again someday when we have room for another tree to be displayed. I also have a plethora of little ornaments she made over the years. I had a close relationship to her and I still treasure that to this day. Christmas often makes me think of her as does Thanksgiving. Many of my favorite recipes come from her and I use them with my own family.
The year before she died my Meemaw came to my parents home for Christmas. I was home from college and it was going to be a cozy time with just family. We spent evenings enjoying some traditional television in front of the fire and we enjoyed the traditional foods. It was all a typical Christmas. We opened presents on Christmas Eve and we took turns opening up packages as others looked on. As we opened things my father, who played Santa's helper for the Christmas Eve festivities, brought me a little package. It was wrapped in paper I knew my Meemaw had saved for years. She often collected things and reused them. She grew up during the depression and had so many things boxed and labeled in her home that she might use again someday. After she passed away we even found old ration coupons that she did not use so she would have them if she needed them. She also had stacks of S&H Green stamps saved back, too.
Anyway, I carefully opened that paper and then tore the tape off the little box inside. As I pulled back the tissue paper I saw that little bear. The one I had always played with at her home. I began to cry for several reasons. It was such a special toy and here she was giving it to me forever. She was a crocheter and he was wrapped in a little afghan she had crocheted just for him. I cried for the fact that I was growing up and would no longer be playing with toys at her home. There was also a reason I cried for a year later when I truly understood why she had given it to me. As she passed away and we had her funeral I realized she knew she was dying. It was her way of giving me a piece of her. It was her way of saying she would always love me. It was her way of saying goodbye. I did not understand that at the time but now, as that little bear sits on my shelf, it is a reminder to tell my children about her and about the time I spent as a child with her. It reminds me of the gift she gave me in shaping who I have become. It is a reminder of a more innocent time when life was simple and of the love she had for me that still lives on today in the memories I have of her.
Here is that little bear today...
Over the years I received lots of great things from my family. They are all appreciated and many remembered with fondness but that little bear was the most memorable and precious little Christmas gift I have ever received.
