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On Christmas morning, my grandson Alexander was busy with building his new presents. He had received several kits to make the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. He was busy most of the morning, and as he came close to completing his project, he stopped, looked up at his dad and said, “This is my favorite Christmas present. What was your favorite, Dad?”
His dad was busy inserting batteries into Peter’s robot reptile. He paused long enough to recall, “I guess I would have to say it was the radio kit I got when I was a young teenager. I was so proud of myself when it really worked”. Then Alex asked me what my favorite was and I replied, “It was the ice skates I got when I was twelve.” Alex ran to the Kitchen to ask his aunt Carole, who was busy getting snacks ready for munching. “Aunt Carole, what do you remember as a best Christmas present?” He stood there shifting from foot to foot waiting for her answer. Carol, without any hesitation, said, “Well, every Christmas was special as I got a doll and a new dress. My mother made the dress and I was so proud”. Peter claimed his favorite present was the robot. He was learning how to make it walk and eat, and how to follow him around. He was also learning how to make it chase the cats and his brother. When Alex’s mom, my daughter Elaine, came into the room, he asked her the question too. Elaine responded without any hesitation. “It had to be the year that Karen and I got our bikes. Mom and Dad had put them on our enclosed porch since they wouldn’t fit in the living room. We had other gifts that we had unwrapped that day and Dad kept insisting that Karen and I go out on the porch. We couldn’t see any reason for that but he kept insisting. Well we finally went with our heads down moping as we opened the front door. Standing there were two bright and shiny beautiful green bikes. We were elated. You know what else? It was a warm day and we took them outside and Dad began to teach us how to ride. Those bikes were big bikes without training wheels!!! And we were riding all by ourselves at the end of the day.” As Alex finished his interviews, he had to agree getting a present that took care and effort seemed to be the best for all of us. January 5, 2007
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