The two best Christmas gifts we ever received???
This is a hard one.
As I said last week, my mother made my early childhood Christmases magical. Aside from the inevitable doll, nothing really stands out. I remember each of the dolls and loved them dearly. One I saw in a shop and thought that it looked like my youngest cousin and I was crazy about it. Sure enough, that doll was my Christmas baby that year, and what else could I call her but by my cousin’s name? Come to think of it, that cousin and I have become quite close over the last 15 years or so, yet I am not sure that I ever told her about the doll. I will have to tell her when I make my Christmas call to her.
It was unusual that I actually got exactly what I wanted, which is why that doll sticks out. If I really wanted something, I seldom got it, even if it was promised. It wasn’t the money. Even as a kid, I never asked for anything too expensive, and I seldom actually asked for anything. And as I said last week, Christmas was a splurge in my family. The thing is just that others thought better of whatever I wanted, or got something that was close, but not what I wanted.
I am sure that we touched on this a past Christmas post ago.
I was going to say that a set of Christmas dishes was my best and favorite present, one which I have added to over the years, but then I remembered that it was actually one of my first anniversary presents from my husband. Since our anniversary is December third, that anniversary was thirty-nine years ago!
(Good grief, no wonder few of the original plates and cups are still with us.)
Perhaps one of the best presents was also one that I also have mentioned before. I believe that it was that same Christmas, 1983, when I was seven months pregnant. My husband gave me a sweet figurine of an old-fashioned girl in a pinafore, holding a straw hat, with a cat at her feet. He said it reminded him of me. (I am a cat lover.)
Some years later, he gave me a slightly larger figurine of a sophisticated lady dressed to the nines, with a boa and a large hat. He said that now I was his lady.
I think I got the second one for a birthday,
and still have cats.
We will not be exchanging presents this year, although my grandson just gave a present to me that is quite nice, quite practical, and knowing me well, quite thoughtful.
I wish everyone a great Christmas of love, peace and warmth in their hearts.
Angela Schroeder
Patricia Kiyono
Elaine Cantrell
Jeff Salter
Joselyn
Tonette Joyce
Four Foxes, One Hound 
I love the story about the doll who looked like your cousin! I remember a few Barbies, but other than that there weren’t too many dolls, at least not the kind that girls in America play with. Most of the dolls in our house were dressed in kimonos and were for display, not for play.
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Our favorite aunt did a lot of crochet work. I don’t know if she did this for any of the other nieces, but Aunt Luna gave — over the years — some 2-3 dozen little dolls, each dressed in an elaborate outfit that Luna crocheted from a pattern she found somewhere. The dolls themselves were simple and inexpensive, but the work that went into their outfits was magnificent.
But, as you noted about your dolls, these were for display, not play. My mom had a cabinet custom-built to display these dolls. I assume my sister still has them somewhere.
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I’d love to see those, Jeff. Those are also something I would have kept nice on a shelf.
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One year, for Christmas, Aunt Luna also got a boy doll — for me. He was dressed in a crocheted Santa suit and the accompanying girl doll (for my sister) was dressed as Mrs. Santa.
Not sure what happened to the Santa doll, but it’s possibly with the rest of my Sister’s collection somewhere.
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I would have adored a Japanese doll just to look at! I used to keep a lot of things safe.
I never got a Barbie, but I had an original “Coty” doll, one of the first. My mother bought one for my sister and decided that I should have one.;I did not keep that one safe! I bet they are worth a fortune now.
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