Most people are stocking up on wrapping paper, ribbons and tape to wrap their Christmas gifts, but I head for a storage closet where I keep old boxes, beautiful Christmas boxes from my childhood.
My father's mother and sister loved to create beautiful packages, and each year our family looked forward to the day the big box from West Virginia arrived in the mail. All the package were decorated. One had a styrofoam Christmas tree heavily embedded with glitter and tiny ornaments. Another had a felt Christmas tree with tiny toys as decorations. There was a silver box with red felt candles. A gold box with miniature ornaments.
I remember being as excited about the boxes as I was about the gifts they held. One year the package from West Virginia still hadn't arrived on Christmas Eve day, which was a Sunday, and I was so disappointed. Then there was a phone call. It was a worker at the post office in our small town in Connecticut. A package had arrived, he said, and we could come to the post office to pick it up! Disappointment quickly turned to joy!
I have saved those boxes. They are getting worn and a bit tattered now. One got so frail that my mother's mother took the felt tree off the remnants of the box and put it on a stocking that she made for my then baby daughter. That is still my grown, married daughter's stocking to this day.
So think about the gifts you give, but also think about the boxes they come in. Maybe you can wrap your gifts in boxes that will hold a lifetime of love.
It sounds like your gifts were sent to you with much love ... And isn't it that love that lingers ... Happy gift-wrapping to you :)
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