The Gifts
By: Christine Hersom
(3 min read)
By the time this blog posts, the Christmas Season will have ended…January 6, 2023, is the Twelfth Day after Christmas. The decorations were taken down, and the lights were unplugged. During this activity, I had time to reflect on the gifts I received this holiday season.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love the lights, decorations, and giving gifts to people. I spend all year looking for things that fit each person’s interests, personality, and life. Gifting others is my superpower at Christmas. I am not great at receiving gifts. I am the proverbial “hard to buy for” person. I have tons of interests, but I am the person who, if I see something I want, I buy it. My Dad was always that way. It used to drive us crazy from Halloween to Christmas. I vowed to be different…I haven’t succeeded yet.
Each year, I try to stop buying the things I want after Labor Day. I try very hard to think of low-cost and meaningful gifts that my family could buy me. The only things I purchase are things I need.
This Christmas was different. I couldn’t think of anything I “needed.” (See what I did there?) I must admit that this Christmas was one of the best ones ever. My family didn’t ask me what they could get me, as I always say I don’t need anything. I keep waiting for the year that there are no gifts under the tree for me. It would serve me right.
A few blogs ago, I wrote about “The Pen.” I bought it myself. I could have suggested it as a gift, but I felt I “needed” that pen. It was pricey, and I didn’t want that to fall to someone as a gift.
Christmas morning arrived, and I couldn’t wait for my children, their significant others, and grandchildren to open their gifts. That is the best part for me. As we got to the end of the tree, I was glad that everyone was so happy.
A stack of gifts was behind the tree. When I pointed it out, my family said, “They are for you.” I hate to be put in the spotlight. Again, I am great at giving gifts but not so great at receiving them. The first box I opened was an old-fashioned cookie tin. In it were antique buttons. A few blogs ago, I wrote about my grandmother’s button tin. I couldn’t believe the gift. I was so stunned and so happy.
The card inside said, “Now you can create magic and wonder with your grandchildren and this tin of buttons.” This thoughtful gift brought tears to my eyes. Again, I realized how much I missed that tin of buttons from my grandmother.
Now I was as happy as a person could be, but there was more. My husband bought me an antique Remington typewriter. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My husband and I tend to pick things out that we need, buy them, and wrap them as gifts. This year was totally out of the norm for us, and I loved it. I know that using an antique typewriter is out of the question. But having it, looking at it, and thinking about the writers that have used it has been awesome for me. I will write many stories in the future about this typewriter. Again, this gift brought tears to my eyes. My husband said watching me follow my dreams for the past year or two makes him happy. My husband wanted my gift to be special…and it was!
Over the past year and a half, my desire to start sharing my writing with the public started coming to fruition. I have published over thirty blogs and was a contributing author in the book, The Four-Fold Formula. I will be published again this summer in the book, Win the Wellness W.A.R.
All the gifts that I received this year were thoughtful and beautiful. The biggest part of the gifts was my family’s participation in my dream of being a writer. I love that people read my writing, but I especially love that my family does.
I find that in this period of my life, one of the things I love most is an afternoon nap with a beautiful, soft, snuggly blanket. Watching children in my home daycare wears me out. My son and his family got me a new blanket imprinted with my favorite movie character, Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas). If anybody is looking for me, I am wrapped in my blanket, dreaming about antique typewriters and buttons.
I hope that everybody had a wonderful Christmas Season. I hope that somebody in your family gave you the gift of memories and dreams.
Christine Marshall Hersom
All Things Wellness, LLC
christinehersom@yahoo.com
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