Giving is the best feeling

Sure, I remember going with Mom to purchase birthday gifts for my friends' parties. Piggy banks, porcelain cats and horses, toys - we bought it all. Sometimes we forgot to get a gift and at the last minute, Dad would produce a little robe/nighty combo from his lingerie sample bag. No, my father wasn't a cross-dresser. He was a lingerie salesman. Robyn recalls receiving such a nighty. I wonder if we gave her a pack of cigarettes to go with it? haha

But the first actual gift I remember buying all by myself was a Christmas gift for my mother. I must have been around 12 years old - at the age when I realized I could do this. She had mentioned that she needed a new wallet and I wanted to get it for her - without help!

In my hometown, there weren't many options for wallets. I decided to go to Rex Pharmacy, right on Chestnut Street, to see what they had. The place had it all! Laundry soap, Playboy magazine (Laurie Reinertson and I had checked those out to see what the big deal was), perfume, electronics, jewelry and wallets. Plus medicine.

A sales clerk very carefully showed me the selection of wallets. I knew what Mom's present wallet looked like. I wanted to get one shaped like that. I had my eye on one that was made of real "kid" goat skin. It was something like $15 - a lot of money back then. But I was a miser and had been saving up. I purchased the wallet and had the clerk gift wrap it. (I'd not yet met Mr. Paul Goldsmith, gift wrapper, supreme).

I was so excited for her to open the gift - so proud of myself and my purchase. Pleased that I would finally be able to show Mom how much I care for her and how much I appreciated all she did for us.

I don't really remember her reaction when she opened the gift. I wasn't adept enough at reading others' reactions to know whether or not I'd chosen wisely or not back then. So maybe I blocked it out because she didn't. Or maybe I just got carried away with my own gifts in the moment. But I do know that Mom used that wallet for years to come, and that made me happy.

Giving - the gift that keeps on giving!