Presents From Nancy

At Christmas Eve Service, I didn’t give Nancy her Christmas gift, and she didn’t give my family ours. We did this every year to make us get together shortly after Christmas. She especially liked to see the Girls open their gifts. She was due to come over the Thursday after Christmas. That Thursday, I went to get a new phone, and Nancy was the first person to text me on it. She was thrilled that her nieces from out of state came over for a surprise visit! However, that meant that she was going to have to postpone our visit. That was my last conversation with her, and we never got to exchange gifts. I really wish that I would have seen her that day, but I am happy that she got to see her nieces. What a blessing it must be to them that they got to see her one last time.

On Saturday, at my Mother-in-Law’s birthday party, Nancy’s husband (our dear, “Gramps” as my kids call him) brought over the gifts. If you ever wanted to know how thoughtful and caring Nancy was, here’s a glimpse.

On the “To: From:” gift tags, she would write “Love” over top of the “From:” Because she wanted the gift to be “Love, Grammy and Gramps” not from them.

If the toy required batteries, she would do one of two things. One, she would include the batteries in the bag. Two, she would take the toy out of the box/package and put the batteries in herself. She did this with Caura’s gift, a kid computer. “Gramps” said it took them forever to get the computer out of the package, but it was a success. She wanted Caura to see it, love it, open the lid, and immediately start playing with it.

She knew Aubree loved Dora, so she got her a toy with Dora on it.

She always bought me gifts with flamingoes on it, Charleston Chews, and usually something with a cat that looks like my cat. This year she bought me paper plates and napkins with flamingoes wearing Santa hats on it. (We’ll have to come up with a great reason to use them.) She bought me Charleston Chews. She bought me a mug with shoes on it. She bought me a trio of little angel picture frames. I can almost hear her saying, “This is perfect for Denise, she has three little girls and there are three picture frames here.”

So many emotions ran through me that night. Happy that the gifts were given, sad that she wasn’t there to give them, conflicted as to whether I wanted to eat the candy and use the plates or keep them forever (I’ve already eaten the candy, and decided we MUST use the plates). Happy when “Gramps” got a huge hugs from my girls, including one from Caura where she literally flew into him and he almost spilled his coffee. The joy on his face was priceless.

She is still missed. She will always be missed. I am very thankful that she was an important part of my life. I strive to be as caring and thoughtful as she was.