Holiday Memories: Grandma’s Christmas Presents

Our grandmas knew some stuff we didn’t, and they did things in a different way.

When I was a kid, my grandma always bought me underwear as a Christmas present – which, considering we would have all our cousins, uncles, aunts, and brothers and sisters over at our house on Christmas morning to open presents, meant I got to have about 50 people in the room as I tried to smile about grandma buying me tightie whities.

The mere thought still gives me quivers.

She was a practical woman who lived through the Great Depression and I guess she figured an active boy needed good underwear. A few years later she switched to giving each of her grandkids $100.

That was much nicer.

My cousins and I would joke that it was always good to see “Ben” – Benjamin Franklin, who graces the $100 bill. Clean, crisp, and tucked safely into a currency card envelope, it was definitely a nicer present.

But there was always a semi-nervous time waiting for the present to come; you never knew what the old lady would actually do on Christmas morning.

One year it was rubber coin purses that she got for free during a Las Vegas trip. I think we still got a hundred bucks or underwear WITH the coin purse, but it just goes to show – it was a different time with her around.