Relative Something

This is what Christmas is all about. There is no comparison for the little ones who are just learning the wonderful moments that make up the gathering of loved ones for festive foods, bunches of laughter and, of course, the giving of gifts.

About 22 years ago, with just our little 1-year-old daughter, Cyndie and I moved from our home in Minneapolis back to the suburb where we grew up. In Cyndie’s search for local baby-sitters at that time, she decided to check with the nearby churches to see if there was anyone they might recommend. She struck gold. We didn’t know how lucky we were at the time, but it seemed pretty great that there was a young girl who lived within walking distance that they referred us to.

Melissa rather quickly moved from just baby-sitting to more extended child-care and then our summer girl and ultimately became a natural extended member of our family. She not only took care of our kids when they were young, she stayed connected as they grew and went off to college. She stayed connected even as she grew up, got married and started her own family.

Last night we kicked off this year’s Christmas events with Mel’s family, over to our house for dinner and presents. What a treat to have people like this in our lives to share the love of family and the nurturing of children toward healthy, happy developing individuals. We are truly blessed.

We have a pretty funny tradition that has unintentionally developed between Cyndie and Mel’s husband, Greg. It started quite a few years ago when Cyndie gave Greg a snow-globe ornament that she had seen in a catalog. When he got it all unwrapped from the protective packing material, the little scene inside that was supposed to be a quaint winter landscape was revealed. It looked kinda spooky. What was supposed to be a tree that had lost all its leaves, looked more like a tree that had lost its life, …years ago. But this snow-globe was a deluxe model. It came with sound-effects. We found a battery and turned it on. I think it was supposed to sound like wind, and occasionally, a crow calling from the dead tree. It sounded as spooky as it looked and the squawking conjured up visions of horror movies more than anything pleasant about winter. I can’t imagine what Greg must have thought about this family that Mel had gotten mixed up with. He ever so graciously navigated receiving that lemon of a gift and it has become a great source of laughter ever since.

Poor Greg must flinch whenever he learns it is time to visit the Hays family for a Christmas gift exchange again. This year, Cyndie gave him the option, before he even opened his present, to exchange it for a gift card to Home Depot. He politely took her up on the offer after he saw the plastic mold of the front end of a 69 Corvette with a 3″ wide piece of glass that rests on top to make a shelf to hang on the wall. Um, I guess it looked a lot more impressive in the catalog.