12/23/2007

By GARY DEMUTH

Salina Journal

What is your favorite Christmas gift of all time?

For Journal readers, favorite gifts might have been material items such as dolls, dollhouses, clothes, motorcycles or even a pencil sharpener. Others might have chosen less tangible gifts, such as the birth of a child, a recovery from illness, religious salvation and a family reconciliation due to the death of a family member.

Whatever form a favorite Christmas gift took, it meant a great deal to the person who received it. Here are some of their stories.

The gift of sight

The best Christmas gift I have ever received was actually someone else's. A few weeks before Christmas last year, I got a phone call from my mom, Jackie Tolbert. She called to tell me she had already gotten what she wanted for Christmas. That morning, she woke up and was able to read the newspaper headlines for the first time in almost three years.

Mom had lost the majority of her eyesight from glaucoma and had spent the last several years seeing through a spotted fog. Then, in a routine visit to her ophthalmologist the day before, he removed a fibrous-like build-up that allowed her to wake up the next morning to a brighter, crisper world.

Later that day, I took my 4-month-old son to visit her. Mom went straight to his carrier, knelt down, and said, "He's even more beautiful than I imagined!" I still get tears in my eyes thinking about that moment.

Since then, Mom has had good days and bad days with her eyesight. Through it all, she still goes to work every day, cooks, bakes, takes care of her house and attends her grandchildren's programs, recitals and sporting events.

Although I know Mom won't be able to read this on her own, I know my dad will sit beside her, as he always has, and read it aloud as though he's talking to himself. My mom's eyesight, strength, and my parents' love and commitment to each other are the greatest gifts I could ever receive.

*ASHLEY HANSON, 2516 Pinnacle, Salina

Homemade battleship

December 1947 was our first year in Abilene. We just moved from Minnesota and had nothing. Somehow Dad and Mom saved enough money to get some wood and one quart of blue paint. Dad made my brother and me a battleship. He also cut down a cedar tree, and we all made Christmas decorations, including candy canes, stars and bells. They also were (painted) blue. We had the best tree and a great Christmas.

*BONNIE LOGRASSO, Abilene

The pencil sharpener

My best Christmas gift ever was a regular pencil sharpener. When I was in third grade, all I wanted from Santa Claus was a pencil sharpener so I could do my homework neatly. Christmas morning came and there was no sharpener. My dad found me crying and asked why. I told him. A little later, he was gone after making a phone call.

Later, when we were opening gifts, there was one with no tag on it. Dad made a big deal of it and said it had to be for me. It was the pencil sharpener! My dad had called someone from School Specialty Supply and had gotten them to open the store for him on Christmas morning so I would not be disappointed. I still have it 53 years later.

My dad was Ted Johnson of Johnson Builders in Salina.

*JANET ERNSBARGER, 650 Highland, Salina

Wrapped in uniform

I received my best Christmas gift in 1944. "It" came wrapped in a U.S. Navy uniform, and I still have him!

*MURIEL GREENE, Tescott

The blue dress

It was 1941, and I was 7 years old. My parents had recently separated, and Mother and I moved in with my grandmother. That Christmas, I had spotted a doll in a downtown store window. She was a beautiful lady doll with a blue gown. I wanted one of these dolls, but Mother said they were too expensive and we couldn't afford it. When my father picked me up one weekend, we went window shopping, and I had to show him the beautiful doll. That Christmas, I did get the blond doll with the blue dress and matching straw bonnet, as blue was my father's favorite color. In those days, she probably cost a full day's work.

I still have her, though her blue dress and hat are faded and she has a crack on her lower lip to her chin. But she is still beautiful with long eyelashes that blink. She is 66 years old but looks 16. The Horseman Doll box is well-worn, and the penciled price mark on the box is almost unreadable, but without tax, she was $3.49. She is priceless to me.

*MARLENE LEISTER, Salina Christmas angel

In the early hours of Christmas morning 1990, we received a phone call from our daughter Tamra and her husband, Layne, telling us of the arrival of our very first grandchild.

Shayna Nicole Hauserman was the first of four precious granddaughters. She will always be our Christmas angel.

-- Clifton and Judy Prater, 1604 Eaglecrest, Salina Scared stiff

I was 6 or 7 years old at the time of this memorable Christmas. My younger brother Robert had misbehaved terribly this year. As was the custom in those days in Luxembourg, Europe, you were given a good scare by two men dressed in dark clothes with hoods over their heads.

My sister Frieda and I were scared stiff as the two men came into our living room, picked up my brother, put him in a burlap sack, dragged him away in the snow and left him in the cemetery about two blocks away. He walked back home barefoot.

Needless to say, that was my best Christmas, as he was the best-behaved brother anybody could ask for.

-- Anne Weber Munoz, Salina

Baby Jesus in Concordia

There was always a lot of excitement at our house when a new baby was born. The boys were always hoping for a boy to complete their ball team. One Christmas Day, we had a new baby boy. I was sure it was the Baby Jesus because no one else could be born on that day. He was named John.

I used to give family news to the neighbors and would always announce new arrivals. As usual, I faithfully went from neighbor to neighbor announcing, "the Baby Jesus was born at our house, and his name is John."

To this day, I still feel the Baby Jesus was born at our house on Christmas Day.

-- Sister Christella Buser, Concordia

Snowstorm romance

The nicest Christmas gift happened because of a bad snowstorm.

It was December 1943, and I was in the Air Force stationed at Coffeyville. I got a three-day pass and was hitchhiking home to Fort Scott. I got to Parsons when it started snowing real hard. They closed all roads out of Parsons, so I rented a room at the YMCA.

The YMCA told me a nice place to go was the USO, which was close by. I went there and met the prettiest and cutest gal I had ever seen, Wanda Willson. Three years later, we were married and have now celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary.

If it were not for that bad snowstorm (I now consider it a good storm), I would never have stopped in Parsons, and therefore would never have met the nicest person I've ever known.

-- Bill Smith, 642 Starlight, Salina

Sun Bonnet Sue

I grew up in the Dirty Thirties, as it was called. We were all poor, no extra money for Christmas gifts. Much to my surprise on Christmas morning, I had a big package at the foot of my bed. Mother had made my favorite quilt -- Sun Bonnet Sue. The best surprise of all, the dresses were made from material that my mother made from my school dresses. I am 82, and I still have the quilt in my bedroom on a quilt rack, and I still enjoy seeing it every day. Mother made me several more quilts, but Sun Bonnet Sue is still the best Christmas gift I ever had.

-- Mardella "Mickey" Rous, Hays

Pay it forward

I was a young man fresh out of college, and I had just completed a week-long training meeting. (At the airport), I was warming up my ice-covered car and scraping the windshield when an elderly gentlemen approached me and asked if I could please spare a few minutes to jump his car, which had a dead battery. Between the cable connection procedures, I learned he was going to pick up his wife and luggage at the baggage claim area, and he was sure she was concerned about his whereabouts.

Although I was driving an economy Subaru, and he owned a Lincoln Continental, the jump start worked. He thanked me repeatedly for my help and offered me some money for my time. Feeling the spirit of Christmas, I reminded him of a movie called "Pay It Forward." The message was, when someone does you a favor, you pay it forward to someone else.

He told me he appreciated my kindness. I headed for the baggage claim area to pick up my luggage. My co-worker was waiting patiently by the loading area with our luggage. I turned off my car, popped the trunk and loaded our luggage. We got into my little car and were ready to go. The only problem was, the car wouldn't start. It seems the drain on my battery was too much for my Subaru. I raised the hood and looked around for anyone to help.

After a few minutes, a familiar-looking Lincoln Continental comes around the corner. The elderly man was more than happy to pay it forward, and we all went home with the feeling of the spirit of Christmas.

-- Kent D. Smith, 2134 Leland Way, Salina

The gift of life

In June 2002, our granddaughter Grace Marie was not quite a year old when she was diagnosed with leukemia. Two weeks earlier, our daughter (her mother) learned she was pregnant with her third child. After 18 months of chemotherapy treatment, Grace fell out of remission for the second time. Doctors agreed that the best chance to save her life was through a stem cell transplant using cells from her baby sister's cord blood.

On Christmas Eve 2003, the stem cells were given to Grace. On Christmas Day, we spent the day in the transplant unit, filled with hope and expectation. Grace had been given a chance of a new life and was "reborn" with those few drops of stem cells.

Today, Grace is 6 and in first-grade. Each Christmas Eve we celebrate her "second birthday" and realize there is no greater gift than the gift of life.

-- Steve Howe, 933 Twin Oaks, Salina

The same only different

Christmas 1962. I was 15, my other sister was 12, and my little sister was only 4 months old. Mom wrapped a big present and put it under the tree. After a few days she put a tag on it. It was addressed to all three girls. Being 15, I could not imagine what I had in common with a baby and a 12-year-old. All (my mom) would say is, "It's the same thing, only different."

Come Christmas morning we opened it and found a gift of love. Our mother was a gifted seamstress and sewed a lot of our clothes because we didn't have much money. Inside the box we found three matching green wool box pleated skirts, one for each of us -- the same thing, only different.

-- Lynda Grimsley, 1200 Funston, Salina

Special delivery from Santa

My dad died a month before I was born, and my mother died a month after I was born. I was raised by my mother's half-sister and husband and called them mom and dad -- there was never a time I didn't feel loved.

Never was this proven to me more than the Christmas I was 5. Just before Christmas, Santa Claus was coming to a nearby town near where we lived in Northwest Arkansas. I wanted to go see Santa so bad! But I was too sick to go. Dad left anyway to buy groceries for the week. When he came home, he had a little dollhouse made of cardboard that he said Santa had sent to me because I could not go to see him. I was so thrilled! I had never received a gift from Santa before!

I never played with the dollhouse. It was much too fragile. But I kept it on a shelf above my bed for many years where I could look at it and remember. To this day, when I think of that little precious dollhouse, I recall the happiness on the faces of my mom and dad when they saw how happy it had made me.

-- Linda Geist, 2434 Robin, Salina

What a wife

My greatest Christmas present was given to me by my wife, Vicki, in 1998. I am a fan of old motorcycles and wanted an Aubergine and Alaskan white 1967 Triumph Bonneville.

I found the right year and color. The guy wanted $3,900 for it, and I talked him down to $3,600. I told him I would talk to my wife to make arrangements to pick up the bike (he lived in Michigan). I go to work that night and called my wife to see if she called the guy back. She told me he sold it. I couldn't believe he did that to me. Little did I know that my wife bought it, and for $300 less than I offered.

On Christmas morning, she asked me to get breakfast at Grandma Max's. As soon as I left, she hooked up the trailer and zipped across town where she had the bike stashed at her friend's house. She loaded the bike, came back home and had the neighbor unload it and push it into the house -- all in the time I was getting breakfast and playing games in the arcade. What a feat!

Imagine my surprise when I walked in the front door, and there is Vicki standing on the couch with the camera to catch my surprised look at seeing the elusive Triumph sitting in my living room. What a wife!

It has given us years of smiles per mile. Thank you, Vicki. Did I ever tell you how much I love you?

-- Walter Price, 1201 Kingston, Salina

The gift of salvation

The greatest gift I ever received was the gift of salvation.

I had a good life, married the man of my dreams, had a family who loved me, went to church faithfully every week, and yet there was an emptiness in my life which wasn't filled until I found God's son and knew he had given his life for me.

My little great-grandson is telling the other children in his nursery class about the man who has a birthday in December, and that is the reason we celebrate Christmas. I am proud to know that he also is wondering why we don't give our gifts to Jesus instead of one another. Good question! Oh, the wisdom of an innocent child.

-- Betty Price, 631 E. Ash, Salina

The Christmas card

I'm a single mother of two, and about 10 years ago I was working full time at a salon and trying to make ends meet. My girls were very small. I received a Christmas card from one of my clients, Elaine, who was one of my favorites. I opened it, and inside was a gift certificate to Smoky Hill Meats for $50. For a single mother of two, $50 was like a million. I cried like a baby. She had made it possible for my kids to eat a little better. I called her to thank her, and of course I started crying again, which made her cry. She had no idea how much it would mean to me.

I have since moved onto a better job, and my kids and I are doing wonderful. I still see Elaine once in a while, and every time I see her, I have to fight back tears. I have received bigger, more expensive gifts before. But at that time in my life the card and that gift certificate was like a gold bar. She made that Christmas gift something that I will never forget.

-- Melissa Bronson, 819 W. Iron, Salina

No bad dreams

Since April 4, 2006, I haven't been able to sleep. Sometimes sleep is a comfort to people, but for me it became nightmares. Night after night. Day after day. The depression, lack of sleep, and a broken heart and spirit -- I just couldn't bear facing the reality of what my life had become. On Christmas Eve 2006, I sat crying once again. I looked at my husband's photo and, with tears dripping off my face, asked for only one thing for Christmas from him -- to sleep a full night without bad dreams. Christmas Eve night 2006 was the first night since April 5, 2006, that I had slept more than one or two hours at a time. It was beautiful. I slept all night with wonderful loving dreams of my husband. The next morning, Christmas Day, I finally knew that my loving husband of 30 years was watching over me and is still with me.

My husband, Jim Bishop, passed away April 5, 2006.

-- Tracy Bishop, Salina

The Dentist Santa

My mom, Jody Fredrickson, loved Christmas more than any day of the year. She showered all those she loved with gifts that she would buy throughout the year.

As she retired from 44 years of caring for others as a registered nurse, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer. She elected to undergo a stem cell transplant to hopefully achieve some remission and prolong her life, as she was only 66 years old.

As she left for the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha in October 1998, she already was counting the days until her six weeks of treatment would be finished, and she could return to spend Christmas with her family.

She survived the transplant procedure, but after three weeks on a respirator, she died on Dec. 16.

The day before her (funeral) service, we were eating lunch at our local Landmark Inn restaurant/gift shop. The owner of the Landmark came out to our table carrying two wrapped packages with festive bows. He told us, "Your mom picked out these gifts in October before she left for Omaha. They are paid for and labeled."

My eyes began to fill with tears as I held the last Christmas gift from my mom. As I tore the paper off and opened the box, there was a beautiful collector Santa holding a red and a green toothbrush. As I am a dentist, my mom had chosen the perfect gift for me to remember her by. The "Dentist Santa" now sits on my piano and is my most treasured memory of her.

-- Gary Fredrickson, Oberlin

Every day a gift

At 4:30 a.m. Nov. 19, I received a telephone call telling me that my oldest daughter, Katy, was dead. Naturally I fell apart. I called my sister-in-law Elsie, who has been more of a sister to me, and she came to me immediately. My youngest daughter, Kelly, who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, immediately started making arrangements to get home.

The Danner Funeral Home were some of the most gracious people, and they went above and beyond the call to help Kelly and myself. A good friend and minister was there to help get us through this terrible, heartbreaking time. In addition, the ladies of Brethren in Christ Church and New Trail Fellowship got together and had a luncheon for family and friends.

Katy has a 7-year-old daughter, and she was so brave through it all. She stood up in front of the congregation and read her own words of things she loved to do with her mother.

I have two brothers and five sisters, and over the years we have drifted apart, and there have been some feelings hurt. It took something like this to bring us together. I only hope it can stay that way.

So this is my gift -- not only from my immediate family, but from all the wonderful people who sent cards or flowers or money towards her memorial, and just for being there. I remember reading somewhere, "Every day is a gift from God, that's why they call it the "Present."

Peace, joy and comfort to everyone.

-- Marty Foreman, Abilene

nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.