Selecting good gifts can be stressful

What do you want for Christmas? That is the question a lot of people are asking these days. I find it so much easier to buy for my loved ones if I have a clue of what they want.

I confess, I am not the easiest person to buy for. I tend to prefer the exact same stuff year after year. My family prefers to surprise me with things they think I will like.

I am in that stage of life when I am trying to get rid of stuff, and the last thing I want is more stuff.

Plus what I really want is not something that can be bought. So what do I want besides having my daughter and her family live closer to us? I want my courage back. I miss the days when I could drive on hilly back roads with the windows down and the radio blaring. These days I limit my driving to familiar city streets. I also don’t drive after dark. As to the radio blaring, well, I tend to prefer quieter music now.

I want to be able to go where I want when I want. Those days are gone. Since I no longer drive out of town I am limited to places I can go on foot or places that are in town. Anywhere else involves letting someone else man the wheel. I am lucky that my husband is more than willing to take me wherever I want to go. I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

We spent the weekend with family. On Friday we drove over to our niece, Jane’s house. She lives close to Lake Erie. We met with hubby’s brother and sister and their families. We got caught up with all that was going on in their lives.

We found out that his brother is working part-time at a funeral home. He seems to enjoy it. According to him, that time after the deceased is safely in the ground and the family has gone is the most peaceful time of day.

Both he and his wife volunteer at a local school. If I understand it right it is on an as-needed basis. She was asked recently to take over a class when the usual substitute teacher was unavailable. She was apprehensive going into it, but she found that she really enjoyed it.

Hubby’s sister is still fighting an ankle that doesn’t seem to want to heal. She is hoping to finally get rid of the boot she has to wear. She is beginning physical therapy soon. This is a problem she has been fighting on and off for several years.

Her doctor let it slip that her former doctor might have made mistakes in how he was treating her. She expressed frustration that there is no way of knowing beforehand how good or bad a doctor was. The rest of us expressed our sympathy and related our own tales of doctors not living up to our faith in them.

The get-together broke up in the late afternoon. The drive home seemed even longer than it had been on the way there.

The next day we met with my brothers and their wives at a buffet in Richmond. That was a much shorter drive than the day before. My sister-in-law, Apryl, was wearing a hoodie with turkey trot symbols. She and my brother, David, had participated in the race on Thanksgiving. David stopped at the end of every mile and made a video to send to their friends. All I can say is that he shouldn’t quit his day job.

Luckily, we have agreed not to exchange gifts anymore. The visits with family are the best presents we could receive. 

So what do you want for Christmas?