I find myself smiling - gifts exchanged, good intentions seen. Fri., oldest drt came over with gifts...wasn't expecting any gifts at all due to their working struggles. I had given them cash (a few days early), to make sure they had Christmas for their own kids - dinner, gifts, pay a few bills, just whatever they needed to make Christmas happen for them. Generally, hate giving cash, seems impersonal. Anyway, was surprised when oldest showed up with gifts. 1st gift from youngest drt...a box of chocolate covered cherries! I had to laugh, had forgotten, she always gets me those (no one else likes them!); tradition carries on! 2nd gift, so beautifully wrapped that i took a pic of it - perhaps I did have influence, am all about going that extra mile to "special wrap" the heartfelt gift. Inside the box was 2 gifts...the 1st, again so uniquely and beautifully wrapped that I had to ask, "can I just rip it open?" Was a bottle of Irish cream, a nod to my heritage and penchant for Irish Coffee. That gift alone would have been good enough, but there was another! 2nd gift was the CD "My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves". Back story - many years ago, challenged kids to find a gift for me that had to do with "bears"(long story about why the image of the bear is so important to me); each year am nearly brought to tears by who was the most creative in getting "THE bear gift". Well, the CD artwork is a bear, and I had only just told her about my joy in hearing this band! Again, tradition carries on! All-in-all, a heartfelt Christmas.