The "worst" Christmas gift I ever got

It was Christmas 1999, I was 22 years old with a 9 month old Zoe. I worked nights ,waiting tables, sporting a fashionable blue apron smock dress at the clover bar dive in grand haven Michigan . My then husband, who id met just a few years prior after selling him and his friends acid at a “peace” festival in Lowell Michigan , was still pretty heavy into the drug thing. We had just returned from a few years of phish tour, snowboarding for a season In Colorado and then living in a green 1969 converted schoolbus.

We went from chaos to a rented duplex and a baby trying to figure out how Christmas was supposed to work for normal people.

On Christmas Eve, John decided he would get me a Christmas gift, and so he went to meijers late at night to figure something out. The next morning there were at least 12 wrapped boxes for me sitting under the tree.

When I opened the first box it was a small ceramic statue of two people walking with winter gear on. I thought “ okay,” that’s a weird gift but it’s okay, there’s still 11 more to open! When I opened the next one....it was another statue of people doing some other winter activity. After I opened my third gift and found it to be a small Swiss village type house, I realized what was happening. And dread fell over me . Yes, I received an entire winter village from my local grocery store that Christmas.

As a snotty and selfish 22 year old, I was pretty disappointed. Johns mom had a winter village in his home as a kid. So, for him, this is what normal was on Christmas and he was trying to give me something his mom always loved. At 22, I wasn’t ready yet to be that normal. I returned the entire village.

Last year, after my grandpa died, my grandma wanted to get rid of my grandpas 50 year train collection . We took some village and ceramic winter pieces and stuffed them in a box. This year, I bought that white snowy batting and set it up.

And yesterday, I was at ....can you guess where?? Yes, Meijers of all places, searching for some village pieces to add to the collection. I’d wished I had those 12 pieces from 20 years ago!! I think I’ve finally arrived at the stage in my life where I can appreciate a good winter village at Christmas. So sorry to Jonathan LaMaire that I never appreciated the gift 🎁. I realize , this season at 42, what a great gift it actually was!!

And meijers doesn’t even sell those winter village pieces anymore 😞 , I wished I’d kept it!!!