Gifted

Gifts I Got From My Family Last Christmas:

From Dad: An actual ventriloquist dummy. Completely random. In this huge box. Like a full-size, honest-to-goodness, old-school ventriloquist dummy. This is nothing I have ever asked for, or even thought to ask for, since obviously the asking-for-gifts-part-of-my-brain is too underdeveloped. Because it. Was. Awesome. It's probably totally going to murder us all in our sleep some night. I could tell Donny was so jealous. I'm surprised this guy didn't get swiped and smuggled back home to Brooklyn in Donny's carryon.

From My Sister: A white. Winged. Ass.

From My Brother: A mineral kit. It was actually for my then five year old Charlie, who is all about digging in the playground or the backyard and unearthing diamonds. Or gold. He's obsessed with finding gold. This Ebenezer kid of mine will actually swipe my jewelry off the counter and add it to his treasure box. This gift was a hit to say the least.

From My Husband: Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. I did ask for this. But I hadn't read it since I was a kid. I always remember "I cannot go to school today said little Peggy Ann McKay. I have the measles and the mumps, a rash a gash and purple bumps... What? What's that you say? You say to today is Saturday? G'bye. I'm going out to play!"

But when I was flipping through it the other day as a grownup, this little one made me cry. It makes me cry right now.





Maybe Charlie's onto something after all.