I think gifts are a language of love. Some gifts are sentimental and some are fun. Some are surprising and some are expected. Some are serious and some are hilarious. Others make us laugh and yet others make us cry. But whatever the gift is, love is at the foundation.
Years ago when the kids were little money was tight. Prior to having kids, my husband, Ted, and I would get each other anything our hearts desired. But, after having 3 little ones, there was always more “month at the end of the money.” One Christmas we had just finished the kids visit with Santa, and were browsing through the aisles at the department store, when I found a lovely perfume. I wanted it in the worst was, but I was not going to ask Ted because it cost $50.00. That was a lot of money to us in the late 80’s. Ted and I had agreed “NO gifts” that year, so I elected not to say anything. I sprayed the sample bottle of perfume all over myself and even in my purse so the fragrance would linger and we went on our way. On Christmas morning after all the gifts had been opened Ted pulled out a beautifully wrapped present. Of course I protested that he had broken our deal about No gifts, but I was overjoyed to get it. I unwrapped the gift and saw the word “Eternity” on the box. It was that lovely perfume. Ted smiled at me with contentment, and I started to cry. It was so sweet. Ted knew we couldn’t afford it, but bought it anyway. I still have a small bit of that perfume left in the bottle all these years later. I never wear it, but every once in a while I open the bottle and smell it to remind me of Ted’s thoughtfulness. That was one of those sentimental gifts that make you cry…
On another occasion…it was the first year all 3 of our kids knew who the real Santa was. We were afraid it might be a bit ho-hum on Christmas morning, so Ted thought it would be funny to play a joke on our youngest son, Jeremy. First he bought each of the kids a really cool, expensive gift. I wrapped them and put them under the tree. He also bought a stuffed doll called Baby-Bop, who was one of the characters from a popular show called Barney. Jeremy was a couple years beyond the age of kids who were enamored by this purple dinosaur, and even when he was younger couldn’t stand Barney. (Barney was one of those characters either you absolutely loved or completely hated – there was no in-between.) On Christmas morning Ted began our gift unwrapping ritual by giving our oldest son, Teddy, a gift from under the tree. Teddy burst with excitement upon opening the cool expensive gift. Next was our daughter’s turn. Stacy opened her gift. She too was elated. By now Jeremy was salivating. He just knew his gift had to be as cool and expensive as the others. Ted reached under the tree and said “Jeremy this one’s for you!” You should have seen the look on Jeremy’s face and the other kids when he opened his gift and it was Baby-Bop. Ted and I played along with it for a minute, saying “we thought you loved Barney and his friends”, and so on. We all had a good laugh, and then gave him his cool present. That was one of those hilarious gifts!
And again, I am reminded of time when the kids were young and they cut pictures out of catalogues of things they wanted for Christmas. We’d put each kids pictures in an envelope with their name on it and give them to Santa when they went to see him. I’d go back while the kids were distracted by Ted and get the envelopes from Santa’s helper so I could remember what they wanted. Upon returning home, I was going through Jeremy’s envelope one day and saw he had a picture of Mr. Potato Head. I thought it was odd he wanted a Mr. Potato Head. He was always more into racing and pushing things around. But I shrugged it off and thought “well if that’s what he wants…” On Christmas morning Jeremy was very disappointed when he opened the package and protested, “A Mr. Potato Head?! I wanted the race car on the back!!!” Race Car, what was this kid talking about? There wasn’t any picture of a race car in his envelope…. I decided to check it out. I slipped away into my room and pulled out the envelopes and sure enough there on the back of Mr. Potato Head was a picture of a really cool race car. Jeremy was pretty disappointed that Santa could make such an error. I assured him that Santa was probably just really tired by the time he got to our house. Between Ted and I, we had a really good laugh. The next year I noticed that Jeremy had put an “X” on the back of all the pictures of items he had cut out which he was giving to Santa. That way there would be no confusion. That was one of those surprising gifts that made us laugh.
And the memories go on and on…
This Christmas we’ll all sit around the living room and the gifts will be passed out like always. In the mix there will be gifts that make us laugh, there will be ones that bring tears, there will be jokes, and surprises, but one thing is for sure… They’ll be given with love.
‘We three kings of Orient are… Bearing gifts we traverse afar…’
The Crystal Heart 
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