OCR Text |
Show - ' '.7 about it. Everyone will understand un-derstand if you don't give out presents to everyone this year." Well, you know that if I didn't I wouldn't be able to live with myself for all of the next year. I really would be of no use at all just because of my guilt. I have turned to my friends who are around my age, for advice ad-vice and they have no answers, either. Some of them say that they do not give gifts to their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren any more. They buy lots of inexpensive boxes of chocolates and give one to each family and that is it. I would feel like a real failure as a grandmother and great-grandmother if I did such a thing. Well, maybe not so much a failure but a cheapskate at best. to hustle home and get the kids in bed because Christmas will soon be coming and they have work to do. They will not even notice that there were no gifts from Grandpa and Grandma this year. So, see, you have nothing to worry about." Who is he kidding? He would turn to me after every- by Marcella Walker The Holiday season is upon us and I can hardly believe be-lieve it! How in the world did it get here so soon? I say that every year and I still am amazed at how soon it comes around. Of course, I love the Christmas season with all of its excitement, color, beautiful music that we only get to hear once a year, and Santa Claus. Santa is a good friend of mine. I met him when I was a little girl, I saw him at lots of Christmas parties over the years, besides, he is on television, televi-sion, he is in all kinds of stores, and he even comes to church and hands out candy to the younger children at the ward party. You could even stretch the truth a little and say that you have seen Santa in person, and not just one of his helpers dressed to look like him. Some of the times when I have seen him he was not too tall, kind of rotund you might say, but he always smiled, asked you what ' you wanted for Christmas and gave you some candy or an orange or-ange just for coming to see him. Golly, I wish I could still be invited to sit on his lap and tell him my Christmas list and get a candy of some sort for my efforts. But, not only am I too big . to sit on his lap, I don't really have any special gifts in mind to ask him to bring. Hey, did I really hear my self say that? I would imagine that all of you other oldsters out there feel the same way I do, and if you are not an oldster yet you will be some day. Now I get my pleasure of giving gifts for the holidays by making out a long list and then trying to figure out how I can buy gifts for each of our children's families, all of our grandchildren and all of our great- grandchildren. Do any of you still have time and money to get gifts for your own siblings, their children and grandchildren after you shop for your own? Me neither! But enough talk about what could have been. Now I am so old that I have to think of ways to get presents for everyone without going to the poor house in the process. I could crochet everyone a nice shawl to wear on cold winter evenings around the fireplace. However, there are too many people, according to my count, for me to be able to afford to do that. So I turn to my husband and ask, "What can we give to the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and not go to the poor house?" He replies with a grunting sound that sort of sounds like a mumbled mum-bled cuss word. If I ask my children, they say, "Oh, Mom, don't worry And while I am going through all of this worry and bother and staying up late at night trying to think of a good alternative because I still want to be looked upon as a loving lov-ing mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother by my family fam-ily by giving out gifts, when grandpa steps in and says, "Forget the whole thing! They will come to the family party and they will have a good time, we will sing carols and wish everyone a great Christmas. We will hug and kiss everyone and they will file out the door one left without a gift and say, "Come on, we gotta get to the store before it closes and get stuff for everyone. I can't stand the feeling of not giving everyone every-one a present!" Merry Christmas everyone every-one and may you have the best holiday season of your life and I hope you all get some good presents, especially the kiddies who love Santa a little less than they do you! Have a good one, everybody! every-body! Love, Marcella Walker |