The mystery gift. For those of you that may happen by and don't know what this is, I'll give a brief explanation:
The gift is a mystery because its contents is unknown to everyone, except the giver of course. Anyone playing the game can shake, sniff, jiggle, listen, weigh, bounce or do whatever short of opening the package, to get a "feel" for what's inside. Then that person may ask one yes or no question about the contents and the giver will answer. Play then passes to the next person and they ask their question and so on. Over time the clues begin to add up as to what the gift might be and a player will make a guess of the contents. If they are correct, then they get to keep the gift and they are required to bring the mystery gift next year.
Over the years our family has had gifts with historical family meaning, we've had silly gifts, handmade gifts and gifts from other countries. One year my nephew recycled a wedding gift, one year it was frozen steaks, (the package was cold and wasn't that interesting), one year it was canned Echidna, an animal native to Australia, (stuffed animal not real but canned nonetheless). Sometimes the packaging was "normal" and would help give clues to the gift. Most of the time the packaging was very misleading and would lead in wild directions. The canned Echidna for instance was held down tight in the center of a big box, it was lightweight and made no noise, however, the handful of gravel in the box around it made a lot of noise and added weight. One year the gift was a kite. A very large kite. The mystery gift box, however, was a shirt box. With a kite shaped piece of felt inside and taped down. No weight, no movement and very small. This year's gift was packed in rice so that it wouldn't make any noise (the jingling of the bells would have been a giveaway otherwise). I think each family represented at our christmases have won at least once, but I know not every individual has won. Some have won it more than once. I don't think mom ever got one, which is too bad because I know that she would have been very creative picking one out the next year. Or making it, it probably would have been handmade. Dad always knew what the gift was. At least that is what he said every year. He'd watch for a few guesses and announce that he knew what it was, and someone would say, "Tell us what it is." Then dad would laugh and say he didn't want to spoil it for everybody else and go on his way.
This year christmas was different. If you read the blog at all you already know this. This year we met at my sister Sheila's house for dinner. No gift exchange this year, but dinner with family was nice, and time spent together is the best gift of all. We are trying to figure out what our new traditions might be. One tradition that we didn't let go was the mystery gift. This year it was Sheila's turn to supply the gift, but I brought one too. When she called to ask me to dinner I ran my idea by her to see if it would fly. I later talked to my brother and decided it was a "go." I purchased a ring for Tandy and wrapped it. The box it was in was stocking shaped and bigger than a normal ring box, but other than that I made no attempt to disguise it. I let everyone in on it, or tried to, I assumed one or two had already heard about it and didn't tell and I should have. But overall most everyone in the room knew what was in the box. Except Tandy.
By the time it was her turn to guess, there was little doubt about the contents. Can you wear it? Yes. Is it jewelry? Yes. Is it a necklace? No. Is it worn for a special occasion? Yes.
"Is it what I think it is? Tandy asked me. I said I don't know, you'll have to make a guess. She said, "It can't be, but I think it's a ring." I said, "If I told you it was a ring, and I asked you to marry me, would you wear it?
Sheila's gift was jingle bells. Very much like the ones that hung on mom's back door for years and years. Audrey will be bringing next year's mystery gift, I'm already looking forward to it. Sheila had bells for everyone, I got mine in a gift bag that mom had handmade and I had to give the bag back. It's ok, I have my own. And so this christmas had a little bit of everything.
The gift is a mystery because its contents is unknown to everyone, except the giver of course. Anyone playing the game can shake, sniff, jiggle, listen, weigh, bounce or do whatever short of opening the package, to get a "feel" for what's inside. Then that person may ask one yes or no question about the contents and the giver will answer. Play then passes to the next person and they ask their question and so on. Over time the clues begin to add up as to what the gift might be and a player will make a guess of the contents. If they are correct, then they get to keep the gift and they are required to bring the mystery gift next year.
Over the years our family has had gifts with historical family meaning, we've had silly gifts, handmade gifts and gifts from other countries. One year my nephew recycled a wedding gift, one year it was frozen steaks, (the package was cold and wasn't that interesting), one year it was canned Echidna, an animal native to Australia, (stuffed animal not real but canned nonetheless). Sometimes the packaging was "normal" and would help give clues to the gift. Most of the time the packaging was very misleading and would lead in wild directions. The canned Echidna for instance was held down tight in the center of a big box, it was lightweight and made no noise, however, the handful of gravel in the box around it made a lot of noise and added weight. One year the gift was a kite. A very large kite. The mystery gift box, however, was a shirt box. With a kite shaped piece of felt inside and taped down. No weight, no movement and very small. This year's gift was packed in rice so that it wouldn't make any noise (the jingling of the bells would have been a giveaway otherwise). I think each family represented at our christmases have won at least once, but I know not every individual has won. Some have won it more than once. I don't think mom ever got one, which is too bad because I know that she would have been very creative picking one out the next year. Or making it, it probably would have been handmade. Dad always knew what the gift was. At least that is what he said every year. He'd watch for a few guesses and announce that he knew what it was, and someone would say, "Tell us what it is." Then dad would laugh and say he didn't want to spoil it for everybody else and go on his way.
This year christmas was different. If you read the blog at all you already know this. This year we met at my sister Sheila's house for dinner. No gift exchange this year, but dinner with family was nice, and time spent together is the best gift of all. We are trying to figure out what our new traditions might be. One tradition that we didn't let go was the mystery gift. This year it was Sheila's turn to supply the gift, but I brought one too. When she called to ask me to dinner I ran my idea by her to see if it would fly. I later talked to my brother and decided it was a "go." I purchased a ring for Tandy and wrapped it. The box it was in was stocking shaped and bigger than a normal ring box, but other than that I made no attempt to disguise it. I let everyone in on it, or tried to, I assumed one or two had already heard about it and didn't tell and I should have. But overall most everyone in the room knew what was in the box. Except Tandy.
By the time it was her turn to guess, there was little doubt about the contents. Can you wear it? Yes. Is it jewelry? Yes. Is it a necklace? No. Is it worn for a special occasion? Yes.
"Is it what I think it is? Tandy asked me. I said I don't know, you'll have to make a guess. She said, "It can't be, but I think it's a ring." I said, "If I told you it was a ring, and I asked you to marry me, would you wear it?
Sheila's gift was jingle bells. Very much like the ones that hung on mom's back door for years and years. Audrey will be bringing next year's mystery gift, I'm already looking forward to it. Sheila had bells for everyone, I got mine in a gift bag that mom had handmade and I had to give the bag back. It's ok, I have my own. And so this christmas had a little bit of everything.
Good food, family time, thoughts of mom and dad and family out of town. All in all it was a good day. Different but good. One small thing happened though that made a good day into a great day......
She said, "Yes, I will wear your ring."
Craig
P.S. Huge thanks to everyone for their "guesses", she thought it was great fun and she'll never forget it.
She said, "Yes, I will wear your ring."
Craig
P.S. Huge thanks to everyone for their "guesses", she thought it was great fun and she'll never forget it.
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1 comment:
It was different, that's no lie. But it was better than good. It was beautiful. I am so unbelievably thankful to be a part of this family. And I can't wait for Tandy to join us.
Love you (and Tandy)!
Audrey
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