Most cherished gift

Although I was blessed with numerous fun and thoughtful gifts this Christmas (more on that later), here's the story behind my most cherished present...

My grandmother is an incredibly skilled woodworker. For many years she and my grandfather owned the only furniture store in their town. She has always had a great appreciation for fine furnishing and woodwork. Then after she retired from the furniture business and my grandfather died in the 70s, she started building and finishing her own furniture. She has designed and crafted dozens of absolutely amazing pieces - works of art really - from curio cabinets and pie safes to bowls and butterflies.

So this Thanksgiving, as my 30th birthday and my grandmother's 96th birthday approached, she asked what I wanted for Christmas. After living off of retirement and social security benefits for longer than your average bear, she doesn't have a lot of money to spend on frivolous gifts, and this year I knew just the thing to ask for. I told her that I'd like one of the projects that she'd handmade.

Neither that conversation nor my possible gift crossed my mind again until we opened presents together on the 27th. She gave me 3 cutting boards that she not only made by hand (from scraps from other projects if you can believe that!), but has also used in her own kitchen for many years. I was so excited and overwhelmed that I started crying right there in the middle of a pile of holiday tissue paper.

I remember spending summers out in her woodshop as a child, reading Judy Blume novels on a nearby swing and enjoying the smell of the sawdust as she sawed and sanded. And now I own a special hierloom to remember our summers together.

I am so blessed to have my grandmother in my life. She is remarkably kind and thoughtful, not to mention amazingly talented, and thankfully the healthiest and most lively 95-year old I know! May she stay healthy, keep crafting, and spend ten more summers and Christmases with us.