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.
My grandmother gave me five dollars on my birthdays, and misspelled my name every year. Not that I cared. I’m more than thrilled she remembered me at all, and miss her to death.
It sounds like your grandma gave you the gift of anticipation, and unity as her gifts gave you and your family a topic to ponder over. 🙂
E6
No doubt about that.
I lived in deathly fear every Christmas morning. If you call that anticipation, you are 100% dead right!