How To Ensure They Are Present

(My grandmother is visiting us for Christmas. She grew up with quite a few siblings who, for various reasons, have grown apart from her over the years. Not that she’s ever minded…)

Gran: “One day, when I was a teenager, my brothers and sisters came to my room and said that because my birthday is on the 22nd December, they’d each only ever get me one present. They acted like it was such a brilliant idea, too.”

Me: “Geez, really? That must’ve hurt.”

Gran: “Well, it did at first, but it didn’t last long.”

Me: “Why’s that?”

Gran: *grinning* “I started doing the same thing. It made such sense, after all.”

(To this day, my grandmother’s kids and grandkids are the only ones who make an effort as a family for the holidays. The more I hear about my great aunts and uncles, the less I wonder why.)