BE Happy

A few of the best gifts I ever received that made me truly, truly happy...

(1) Conversation: When I was young we spent every Christmas Eve at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Erma's house. After we dined on the feast of the seven fishes and despite being somewhat squished into an overpacked dining room full of relatives and friends, the adults stayed at the table to converse. My three male cousins were much older than I and so they usually retreated to the basement to watch sports, but I usually stayed to listen and observe. In addition, to dessert and coffee, a bowl of nuts was put out (as was our Italian tradition) so I busied myself trying to crack them while I took notice of how these adults interacted. It was glorious. There were stories and jokes and a whole lot of laughter! One of my Aunt's friends who was a fabulous singer would also often treat us to a carol or two. Looking back on these nights brings tears to my eyes not only because I miss all of those people who have since passed, but moreso because I got to behold a beautiful example of human's connecting in the purest level. There were no arguments about politics or money...just a whole bunch of joyful and pleasant chats. So...THANK YOU, Uncle Mike and Aunt Erma for giving me the gift of witnessing first hand what it's like for a group of mature and friendly adults to interact with love and conversation! 💝

(2) One-on-One Time: For a few years when I was too young to spend New Year's Eve at a friend's party, but my sister was not- I'd get the gift of spending the whole evening with my Grandmother Vincenza. You may remember from reading BE Loved - letter #4 (I'll post it so you can refresh your memory 😉) that I ADORED my Grandmother. She was spunky, funny, pure, and unabashedly unfiltered- oh and also, VERY Italian. I remember that she would cook me a delicious dinner of homemade pasta and gravy- then we would eat any leftover pizzelles from Christmas before we settled in to watch the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve special. We'd snuggle together on the couch and sometimes I would fall asleep holding her big, strong, but deliciously soft hand. She'd always wake me up at midnight, but not to throw confetti or toot a horn. Instead, we'd open our front door and bang a bunch of pots and pans together (Italian tradition for good luck) while screaming "Happy New Year! Buon Anno!". Those NYEs were more special than any of the fancy parties I attended later in life. So...THANK YOU, Grandmom for giving me the gift of those nights when I got to spend such treasured one-on-one time just with you- I cherished every moment!

(3) Love: The best Christmas gift I ever received was a box full of dolls. I think I was about four or five years old and I remember Santa had packed them in a giant box. The size of the box alone was thrilling, but when I opened it up there were about a dozen individually wrapped dolls inside! Each one was so beautiful and was dressed in the fashion of a different country- so there was an England doll, a France doll, a Spain Doll, etc. As a big doll lover, I was in heaven! But that feeling didn't last long because my Mom promptly explained to me that Santa didn't want me to play with them 😲! She said they were special and that I had to keep them as "display dolls". I was devastated.

Witnesses say that I may have thrown a bit of a temper tantrum (I know, hard to believe I would do that right? 🤷🏽‍♀️ I also have no memory of this, but if true.... it's totally understandable!) until my parents broke down and told me that the dolls weren't from Santa. Instead they said that my Dad had spent over a year buying them from airports all over the world as he travelled for business. Wow, I remember thinking... these are special dolls! So, I grudgingly agreed to keep them as "display dolls" and they lived for years on a shelf above my bed.

Fast forward 40+ years and I remembered my dolls one day - so, I called my Mom to find out if she still had them. Much to my surprise, she said she had sold them at a garage sale along with my Barbie Camper!!! 😱 Oh the horror and anger I felt- LOL! I wasn't even consulted! Suddenly, I missed those dolls a lot -so I started doing a little research to see if I could find them on Ebay or the like. And, that's when the story gets really amusing.

You see my Dad didn't collect all those dolls for me at various airports around the world. And, they weren't expensive "display dolls" at all. It turns out that in the 1960's, the Atlantic Richfield Gas Station (known as ARCO) sold the dolls for 99 cents (!!!) with a tank full of gas- introducing a new doll each month. They were known as the 'ARCO Dolls of the World'.

Yes, my parents lied to me and denied me the pleasure of playing with my beloved dolls under false pretenses. But, despite that they are still my most favorite Christmas gift ever. Do you know why? First of all, I love that my Mom felt that these dolls should be treated as special because of how they looked not because of how much they cost. And, secondly those dolls were extra special because of the effort my Dad had to put in to getting them for me over the course of the year- sometimes having to go to several gas stations in various towns just to get me the new one. So...THANK YOU, Mom and Dad for giving me the gift of understanding what love is. That gifts are special because of their intrinsic beauty and the thought and effort that went in to get them. My ARCO dolls (repurchased on Ebay 😉) will always be a symbol of just how much you truly loved me. 💝

Wishing you a holiday filled with the BEST kind of gifts!