Basically the story goes, her father wasn't crazy about Christmas gift giving when he was a child because he grew up in a poor household that included 9 children.
As an adult with his own wife and children he began to love giving them gifts.... he couldn't wait to see the joy on the faces of those he gave to.
Cathleen shares that if you're sitting next to him while somebody else is opening a gift he got for them, he will nudge you and say, "Watch this... they're gonna love this..."
Here's a audio/video link of Cathleen giving more detail:
God Doesn't Give White Elephant Gifts
It happened to me tonight!
Cathleen's Birthday is Dec. 21st - Her parents got to town today (23rd) and it was time for Cathleen to open her birthday presents.
I was sitting next to Jim (Cathleen's father) as she began to unwrap his gift.... almost right on queue he leaned over to me and whispered, "She's gonna love this".
As she opened the gift (which it took a while because he also wrapped it, not well) she looked at amazement then took this long gasp....
Her amazement turned to a smile... then tears starting welling up in her eyes as she spoke in a shaky tearful tone, "Where did you find this?"
Her parents answered her.
What was it?
It was her father's handprint that he had made in school - Kindergarten to be exact, he was 6yrs old, it was 1952.
There was a time that Cathleen owned this handprint. She cherished it.
Until..... She accidentally threw it away about 15yrs ago....or so she thought.
It broke her heart to think she had done that. She was truly saddened after (the thought of) accidentally tossing this special family memory in the dumpster.
So when she opened that gift of her fathers handprint today from when he was a child, the one she thought she'd thrown away, now incased in a shadowbox, tears of joy began to flow.
It was a sweet, sweet scene. And the words that her father whispered to me right before she opened it couldn't be more true..... "She's gonna love this".
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