The Ultimate Gift for the Greatest Giver in my Life

Today’s challenge at {W}rite-Of-Passage, is to write about a Christmas gift that you remember the most. {W}rite-of-Passage is a community of bloggers focusing in on getting back to good blog writing and brainchild of fellow blogger, Mrs. Flinger. 

Looking back, I got a lot of great gifts growing up. We weren’t rolling in money, but those roller skates, new winter coat, and those kind of things were all so great to me at the time. But, the one gift that sticks in my mind was not a childhood gift or even a gift that I received.

My favorite memory of a gift was of a gift that I gave. My grandmother (Granna) helped to raise me. For years as she became elderly and frail, my family worried that this would be our last Christmas with her. Our family was changing and it was hard though, as my grandmother wanted to keep every family tradition the same. Sometimes, it just didn’t work. I had one of my only heated arguments with her over moving to drawing names for family instead of getting for everyone. She believed in giving to everyone, no matter how hard the financial hit. It was one of the things I loved about her. While I was fine with either way, I had been elected by my cousins and sister to approach her because I was close with her. I also learned a lesson that day about the messenger getting shot!

So, for years, we joked with her about the t.v. set in her den, which was the only set ever really used in her house at the time. We could always count on it being in some strange mode when we got there. Either every one’s faces were green, red, yellow or some strange static thing was going on. So, one year, my husband and I decided that this year, we were going to really give her the best gift ever.

Every Thanksgiving that we’d visit, my husband and I would plan our Black Friday strategy, but usually it was just a quick trip to Walmart or something. She enjoyed hearing about our plans and our stories of the crazy shoppers when we returned. That year, we decided we’d score the mother of all deals on a t.v. set for my grandmother, no matter what and we’d hide it from her. We scrambled into the back corner of the store where we knew the t.v. sets were and got there just in time to get the last one that was on sale!

Everyone pitched in and she didn’t have a clue it was coming. It was especially hard to hid from her as we stayed at her house! I will never forget the surprised look on her face when we told her to check out that big box with her name on it. I remember how she said she couldn’t possible accept that kind of a gift. It was too much. But, underneath her polite refusal, I saw a delight to which she’d never admit. Everyone had gotten this thing for her? Really? I could tell my gift had let her know something important–she was so special to all of us. Irreplaceable really. And, what I would only learn after she was gone, she was the glue holding us all together. Once she was gone, things would never be the same again.

I have a picture of her looking at the package in my scrapbook with a puzzled look wondering what we might get her in such a big box. It brings a tear to my eye to this day to remember. The day I was able to wow and surprise the woman who gave me more in this life than I can every put into words…