My Overdue Christmas Story... This is from my good friend, Preston Smith: I hope that Santa makes one more visit because there is one thing Ive been looking forward to all year, and so far it has not arrived. Since we reconnected on Facebook a few years ago Ive always looked forward to a wonderful homespun Christmas tale from my friend Lois Dixon. All has been quiet. Quiet as a mouse. Perhaps we need to let Lois know how much we all need a good Christmas story. No pressure…no pressure at all…Ive had several stories spinning around in my head, I just let saving dogs, and family, and life get in the way. So here you go folks….Who knows? I may get on a roll after this one and crank out another one… I will start off by saying Bless Todds heart. And I do mean that sincerely. Todd is truly a good person, with a kind heart, BUT! I do know that he is one of the worst gift givers in the universe. Some husbands are so intune with their wives, that they KNOW what she would like and when that occasion arises, there is that perfect gift. Most wise husbands at least perk up around Christmas time and hope to hear something that they can buy for their sweetheart. And then there are some who know that they can never go wrong with a nice piece of jewelry. Todd? Nope…None of the above…Year after year….a last minute gift card that required no thought and very little effort. Early on, he used to do a little better, but as the years progressed, he did less and less until I finally told him that we just wouldnt bother giving gifts to each other anymore. (Boy! Was he happy about that!) HOWEVER…There was one year that Todd actually stepped up. And stepped up in a big way. While I was in frantic last minute shopping mode on Christmas Eve (USED to do that a lot), Starr broke down and hinted to me that Todd had gotten me something so nice that it didnt matter at that point what I got for him, it was not going to rival what he had for me and we might as well go home. I couldnt pry out of her what it was and so I put it out of mind as I tried to wrap up the last minute details before the big day. Todd was unusually excited and when we came home from his parents house on Christmas Eve, he wanted to open presents. I reminded him that we opened our presents on Christmas Day and that we would open them in the morning. He was very insistent, but I stood firm. He made one more attempt by asking if I could at least open my gift that he had for me. Again, I told him that it could wait until the morning. Little did I know what was about to happen. Christmas morning used to be a big deal as it should be when you have children. Santa has filled stockings and left gifts, and there is the exchanging of presents between family members. The night before, I made sure that all was ready for the next morning and it is a good thing that I did, because disaster struck during the night….At some point in your life, I am sure that all of you have been awakened from a sound sleep and in that haze of half wakefulness, become miserably aware that the insides of your body are building to implosion status. Such was the case on that fateful night. I crept quickly out of bed while I could still walk, and spent the next eternity lying in a pitiful daze of sickness on my bathroom floor. I will spare you all the details, but it was ugly friends…mighty ugly….I finally crawled back to bed and prayed for sleep and for the room to quit spinning; neither of which occurred. At the first hint of daylight both Todd and the children were up and ready for the mornings festivities. I, could not lift my head for fear that it would assuredly fall off, along with my insides rioting again. Im sick, I feebly said as they all stood at the door staring at me in amazement….after all mothers and wives dont get sick. And you especially dont get sick on Christmas Day! Who is going to run the show? Get up Mom! to which I continued to feebly protest that I couldnt. BUT YOU HAVE TO GET UP!!!! I BOUGHT YOU A PRESENT! Todd was getting a little frantic and I recognized at this point, that I would have to make the Bataan Death March to the living room and participate. Bless his heart. Yes, I said it again…Todd had truly outdone himself. He had purchased a stuffed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (He loves to watch Rudolph every year.) and had made a little sign to go around his neck attached with green pipe cleaners that said, A deer for my dear. Upon even closer inspection, he had put a beautiful diamond pendant around old Rudys neck. Can you believe that? And can you believe this? I felt so AWFUL that I could not appreciate it. He insisted that I put it on immediately and I did. It looked great with my sweat soaked hair and my pale greenish skin and I staggered back to bed in a state of feverish nausea. For the rest of the day, Todd continued to come to the bedroom door…note that I said DOOR (no further) and would shake his head in total disbelief. Youre really sick. I know that Todd was disappointed that I didnt go crazy over something that he had obviously worked so hard to pull off with no help or prompting from anyone, but please know that I was in the throes of intestinal warfare. You cant be but so grateful and romantic when you dont know if you are coming or going and your insides are in total revolt. To this day, I cant decide if Todd was disappointed because I wasnt able to appreciate the necklace like he imagined that I would or whether he felt he had wasted a lot of effort and money only to have it somewhat backfire. All I know is that he has never made the effort to do anything since and over the years I have come to understand that. I have gone from wishing that he was a romantic and thoughtful gift giver to understanding that he does other things for me that are kind and good and that will have to be enough. Love cant be measured in gifts. That I do know. So what happened to the necklace? I wore the pendant every day until the chain broke and then it stayed in my jewelry box for many years. A few years ago, I had a little windfall of money and I had beautiful anniversary ring made for myself at Wades Jewelry. Missy, one of my former students, designed the ring which made it extra special. And the center? The center is the diamond form the pendant. I still have Rudolph too. I put him out each Christmas and he watches over us in our den. Everytime I look at him AND look at my ring, I think about that corny little sign and all the effort that Todd made to give me a special Christmas that ended up going down the toilet…literally…
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 21:50:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015