I have made another gift-buying blunder. I recall telling you in this very column about a stuffed hen gone missing at Christmastime a year or two ago. The Married Daughter and What’s His Name have a collection of stuffed birds and early in the year I had run across a reasonably priced stuffed hen at a garage sale. I purchased the darned thing and hid it, planning to save it until Christmas. When the time arrived to wrap gifts, I hunted high and low and couldn’t find it anywhere.
I used that topic as an opinion comment hoping that by admitting my blunder, I would learn from my mistake and only make last-minute purchases for Christmas and birthdays from that point forward. No more planning ahead for this kid!
I guess I forgot.
In January, I ran across a terrific book about the history of baseball. It was published in the 1950s or ‘60s and had photographs of many of The Mister’s favorite players of the day. I thought it would make a perfect birthday gift so I bought it, brought it home, and hid it in a place I wouldn’t forget. I was pretty pumped about finding it and just knew I would be able to go right to it when the time for giving arrived.
This past week I made another trip to Colorado to see my mother and on the way home Saturday, I made several side trips into communities with antique stores. Monday was The Mister’s birthday, but as I tooled through those shops and malls I never even thought about looking for an appropriate gift because I knew I had that book at home.
I spent the entire day Sunday digging through drawers, cupboards, boxes, and other hiding places. No history of baseball. I know it is here somewhere, but I can’t for the life of me think of another place to look. It is almost as if it evaporated.
I don’t know how this continues to happen. I have the best of intentions. You would think that would be enough to protect from the forgetfulness trolls.
It IS better to give than to receive, but first you have to get your hands on the gift. Now there is a bumper sticker if I ever saw one!
— Susan Marshall