Be Sure To Write This Memory Down

In my childhood, my family would visit my grandparents to celebrate Christmas each year. One Christmas, when my sister and I were somewhere around the ages of seven and five, my parents discovered late on Christmas Eve that they had forgotten everything they had meant to put in our stockings at home, which was hours away. 

As all the shops were closed for Christmas, my parents and grandparents had no choice but to scour my grandparents’ house for anything that they could possibly put in a Christmas stocking. The results of this foraging mainly turned up nothing but several pens and legal pads, along with other odds and ends I can’t remember. My parents went to bed feeling awful, certain they had forever ruined Santa and the magic of Christmas for their children.

On Christmas morning, my sister and I eagerly peeked into our stockings, and our eyes grew wide. We ran back to our parents, squealing.

Us: “Did you see what Santa brought us? He gave us real grown-up pens and pads! Mommy, Daddy, look at the notepad! This is the best. Christmas. Ever!“

We cherished those legal pads for the rest of the day, and for months afterward until the paper ran out.

Years later, I finally learned the truth of the story and how bewildered my parents were that no toy had ever enchanted their children like a couple of old legal pads. My mom was certain we were overcompensating for disappointment, but I still remembered that day as the best Christmas ever!