Especially for Christmas. I love buying gifts. I love trying to figure out what to buy for each person, trying to find the best value, buying it at the store or having it brought to my door(Thanks, amazon.com!), wrapping it, and giving it. I love the whole thing…
I think it may be hereditary. My mom loves it, as did my Mama Jo(my dad’s mom). She was the master shopper. I promise that you never met someone who shopped like she did. Once she got an idea in her head about what she wanted to give someone, there was NOTHING that could get in her way(and this was pre-internet days). She would call 100 stores all over the world if that’s what it took. She even had people at certain stores who knew her specifically; she’d call them and put them on the chase as well. And, after a certain point, money wasn’t an issue. For her, I think, it was all about the pursuit of happiness for her at this point. She wasn’t happy until she had that oh-so-elusive item in hand. I hate to admit that I’m the same way. The harder it is for me to find a specific gift I have in mind, the more fun it is.
She was like that her whole life, or at least the part of it I was around to witness. Towards the end, though, she wasn’t able to go like she wanted to. She couldn’t drive to all the stores, walking was hard, her stamina was diminished. So I got the lucky, lucky job of being her personal shopper! Once I was old enough to drive, she’d get me to drive her “to town” and search for the elusive item. And once I moved away to go to college, I don’t know if there could have been a more perfect scenario. I had a credit card under her account. She would call me and give me all the details of what I was looking for, and I was off. Search the stores, search online, drive wherever the chase would lead me…all on her dime. She was happy because she got what she wanted, and I was happy because I was doing something I loved to do and not spending a cent of my own money.
And…I also got to wrap all of her gifts, too. I’m telling you, folks, I love the whole thing from start to finish. Wanna wrap this? Heck yeah! When I was younger, she taught both myself and my brother how to wrap gifts well. We would hole up in her bedroom, pull all the gifts out, and wrap and wrap and wrap(she bought a lot). Some of my favorite memories of my Mama Jo are from Christmas time…but it’s not the gifts I remember most(although there were some great gifts), it’s the buying and the wrapping and the time we spent together. I miss that.
Thanks for sharing this story about Mama Jo. It is great to finally know where you get it from.
I have wonderful memories of Christmases past as well. My Meema lived for Christmas each year…a tree in every room (even bathrooms didn’t escape the decorating)…hosted lots of holiday parties in their home…baked and baked and baked some more…went caroling and took gifts to shelters. She involved us in all of it, too. It breaks my heart that she doesn’t even put up a tree anymore. When Papa died 5 years ago, I think a piece of her did as well. And Christmas has never been the same since. But oh how I love those memories. We had amazing times together as a family. I can’t wait to tell my children all about those experiences, and I hope to continue some of the same traditions with them.
Thanks for the memory!!!! The only thing I want to add is that Grandaddy also would get an idea in his head about what he wanted to get for Mama Jo. He would call me and get me going on it. I loved spending his money too.