These soft, warm, very orange crocheted slippers were a Christmas gift from Tyler not last Christmas, but the one before that. He was five. He bought them at the Secret Santa shop at school…remember those? You get a little spending money from Mom & Dad, or in this case it might have been Nana too….and you stop your routine studies and are ushered into an unused classroom to do your Christmas shopping. I imagine Tyler, very excited, shopping list in hand, searching for the perfect gifts for everyone on his list.
I remember everyone’s presents. For Terry, his daddy, Tyler had picked out a bowling pin/ball pen holder. For Mom (his Nana) he bought a snowman-shaped bottle filled with hot chocolate mix and a black framed picture of 2 dogs that reminded Tyler of Maggie, Mom’s beloved pet. For Aunt Mary, he’d picked out this floppy flannel scarf of yellow and maze; he knew they were “Michigan Colors.” Did you notice that Nana got two presents? Well, it turns out that he just couldn’t decided between the snowman jar and the picture frame since Nana so loved her snowman collection and so loved Maggie Mae. He just couldn’t pass on either of them. So, he spent Uncle Scott’s alloted portion of the shopping money on his much loved Nana. I think she ended up taking him to WalMart for Uncle Scott’s present.
I was the last to open my present from Tyler. His tootheless smile was brilliant as he handed me the wrapped gift. I could tell he had attempted to wrap it himself. Lots of tape…lots of love. All was quiet as I untaped and unwrapped…except for a giggle or two from Mom and Terry, who both knew what the gift was. And there, among the tape and decorative gift paper were these very orange, crocheted slippers. It was probably the best gift I’d ever received. Tyler’s eyes were bright and his smile huge as I gushed over the gift…as I told him how much I liked the color orange. My eyes filled with tears at his satisfied expression. He was so happy to make me happy.
It doesn’t matter that the slippers are so slippery on Mom’s kitchen floor and that I just about break my neck when I’m wearing them, or that the bottoms get sopping wet anytime I get near the dogs’ water dishes, or get too close to the backdoor and all the snowy boots and shoes. What filled my heart that Christmas morning was the love that filled the slippers and Tyler’s glee as he experienced the joyfulness of giving. It was the perfect gift.
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