ESCANABA — On this particular Christmas, as she carefully and cautiously removed the wrapping paper on the package, the surprised look and the tears welling up in her eyes left an indelible imprint on my memory. That moment was priceless when my mother, for the first time, saw the brown leather gloves that I had purchased for her.

The back-story for this episode begins many months before. To bring things into context, during the 1950s to 1960s (the era in which I was raised), money was not easy to obtain. And when obtained, objects or items were few to be purchase because of cost. So it was with me.

I saved (for months) pennies, nickels, quarters, and half-dollars in a glass jar. These were acquired from various activities, such as chores, tips for helping individuals, birthday gifts, tooth fairy monies, and various errands. My goal with the money jar was to save enough change to be able to purchase a nice gift for every family member. All that changed when one day, while traveling to church during the month of November, it occurred to me that my mother did not own a pair of dress gloves, and that her hands were very cold. That is what inspired me to purchase a pair of dress gloves for her for Christmas.

One day, we traveled from Caspian to Iron River, Michigan, which was only three miles away. However, it seemed as if it were 50 miles away, because our trips there were so rare. As we shopped, I was at the J.C. Penney store looking at toys, but an ulterior motive was to see if I could find a pair of gloves for my mother.

Lo and behold, I found a pair of brown leather gloves. I was so elated, but my hopes and dreams were dashed as I learned how much they cost. The price basically made it impossible to be able to purchase nicer gifts for the remainder of my family. On the other hand, I didn’t want to see my mom with cold hands. So, I was torn on what to do.

Time was of the essence. So, I made my decision to purchase those gloves, and the rest of my family received not nicer gifts, but nice gifts. I can’t recall what they were, but I will never forget a most memorable gift. By the way, my mother had those dress gloves for over 40 years, and would occasionally tell the story of how she was given them.

Probably many of my readers have encountered such choices as these at Christmas. But please keep in mind that Christmas doesn’t require us to purchase gifts, especially gifts we cannot really afford. Christmas is a time of celebration because it is Jesus who is the reason for the season.

From the Paul family: God bless all of you and have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

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Daniel J. Paul is a retired school administrator. His columns focus on education, old-fashioned family values, relationships, and other topics. To submit comments or find archived columns, go to meaningfuldifferences.net.