On a recent talkshow, Trisha Yearwood, the country singer, stated that a southern lady could say anything at all about another lady so long as she prefaced her comments by saying, "Bless her heart." I am now going to talk about a female relative of mine. Bless her heart.
"Aunt Betty" is a very generous woman. She loves to give gifts, and her family and friends are the recipients of her generosity.
On the other hand, she has no qualms about re-gifting. I know this first-hand.
I don't have any problems with re-gifting. Heck, I've done it myself in a pinch. I know there are some who think that the practice of re-gifting is appalling and is in bad taste. I tend to be more practical. If I know I'm not going to use it, why not give it to someone who will?
You can't just go re-gifting any old thing though. I have certain rules I adhere to. First, the gift must be unused and in good condition, and if at all possible, still in its original packaging. Second, the gift must be something that I think that the recipient will really like/use. For instance, several years ago, we received a clock. Although it is a perfectly fine clock, until I find someone who I think would really want/like a clock shaped like the continent of Australia, it will remain in my possession.
The third rule, however, is the most important re-gifting rule. You must destroy all evidence that indicates that you were the original recipient of the gift. That means removing all labels and tags; checking to see if there are personal notes hidden within the packaging; and ensuring that the gift is not engraved with your name, a personal message, or any sort of date.
So, the preschooler received a Christmas gift from "Aunt Betty." She had already gotten one that had her name on it, but Aunt Betty had "extra" gifts, gifts that were prettily wrapped but had no names on them. Aunt Betty distributed these remaining gifts to the children in a random manner. So, the fact that my daughter had gotten this particular gift was purely by chance.
When she opened it, she was delighted to see that it was a fairy ornament. Fairies are very big in our house.
When we got home later that evening, she wanted to put the ornament on the Christmas tree. As I unpacked the fairy from the box, the first thing I noticed was that the fairy was carrying a heart-shaped charm that said "friend." Then, I noticed that front of the box indicated that the ornament was from 2005. I started to laugh.
But I stopped laughing when I recognized the handwriting on the top of the box. It said, "To Betty, From Cora."
"Cora" was my mother; she died in 2006.
And by some strange twist of fate my daughter, not one of the other children, ended up with this fairy, a gift that had originally been bought by her grandmother.
Needless to say, we're keeping the fairy.
But there is this decorative candle set we got...
