To Daddy with Love

by Janice T. Harris

It’s the Christmas season, and again I’m puzzling over gifts. I’ve tried to recall the gifts given last year, and I find I can’t entirely remember. In further contemplation I realize there are few presents I remember as vividly as the gift I gave and the gift I received in return when I was seven.

I had carefully selected gifts for all the family with my little cash. I had left only a nickel for Dad’s gift. With the confidence of the very young, though, I reasoned that I could find something suitable if I just looked carefully.

During the few remaining days until Christmas, my search for an appropriate gift yielded only frustration. The afternoon before Christmas came, and the gifts under the tree were sharp reminders that I had not finished my Christmas preparations.

I was drawn to the kitchen by the lovely aroma of roasting pine nuts. Dad especially liked them but disliked the tedious chore of shelling them. In that moment I knew what I would give my father. I asked Mother for a tall tumbler and began my task in a quiet corner. It was slow work for my small hands, and I worked by the light of the kerosene lamp long after my brothers had gone to bed. When I had finally filled the glass to the brim with the delicate nuts, Mother helped me wrap it. It was a sleepy but happy hand that wrote, “To Daddy with Love, Janice.”

This was my first Christmas-giving experience, and it seemed an especially lovely morning. The boys liked their presents and Mother was very pleased with the vase. But as Dad reached to open his gift, I caught my breath. Suddenly I was frightened that he might be disappointed or hurt because I hadn’t found him a nicer present from the store.

The wrapping fell away, and my humble present was exposed. No beautiful gift of costly design was ever more nobly or enthusiastically received. My dad, bless his heart, made that gift the most remembered one I’ve ever given! His love and glowing praise gave me, in return, one of the choicest gifts in life – the gift of sincere appreciation.