Christmas Laughter and Christmas Tears

Tonight we had Christmas with Mom and the Taters. I'm not sure if the funniest gift was the Bedazzler or if it was the DVD of The 40-year-old Virgin that Sis and I got for each other.


Years ago, any time we'd ask Mom what she wanted for Christmas she'd say "A bamboo steamer". She really had no desire for one, but we also had a running joke about the Pocket Fisherman and all things Popiel. So one year, after hearing her say for the umpteenth time that she wanted a dang bamboo steamer, I got her one. When I opened the Bedazzler tonight, she said, "This is for the bamboo steamer!" So now, I can get in touch with my redneck roots and bedazzle just about anything I want. The durn thing didn't come with rhinestones since she just happened to accidentally find it in the bottom of a box of junk she picked up at an auction for $3. Oh, but I will find rhinestones, you can bet. And once I have rhinestones in my Bedazzler, the world will be a shinier place. After the laughter died down Mom said, "So I bet that's some guaranteed blog material right there!" Oh yes, definitely.

Tater picked up the package with the DVD in it, looked at me and said, "Oh my gosh, we did NOT!" Oh yes, darling Tater, we did. When I asked Mr. Diva to pick it up at Wal*Mart I didn't tell him who it was for, he thought it was for us and he was more than disappointed when I told him that it was for the Taters. He said, "Dangit! I got the unrated version and everything!" So now, he and I can watch it to our heart's content - after the children go to bed - because Tater got us the unrated version as well.

But by far, the best gifts of the night were from Mom and Memaw. Memaw has been gone nearly 13 years now, but years ago when Mom was pregnant with Tater and I Memaw started hand embroidering quilt squares for us. Memaw didn't quilt or even sew, but that woman could do hand-embroidery like you wouldn't believe. Unfortunately, the quilts weren't finished in time for Tater and I to be wrapped in them as babies. And years went by, we had our own children and the quilt squares were put back and our babies weren't wrapped up in them either. But Mom decided that this was the year. She pieced the quilt squares together and then sent them to South Dakota to be hand-quilted by the mother of a friend's friend. The results are two of the most beautiful baby quilts I've ever seen in my life. Taters is done in pale pastels and the squares are bunnies, ducks and bears. Mine is blocks with different nursery rhyme characters, done in brighter pastels.

Mom walked into the den with the boxes in her hands and said, "Girls I wanted to write you letters to go with these but I can't." Then she started crying and said, "Then I was going to just tell you the stories, but I can't even do that. Merry Christmas from me and Memaw." Well, it could've been a box of toothpaste and I wouldn't have been able to hold back the tears at that point. Just seeing Mom cry and hearing Memaw's name did it for me. I busted into full fledged sobs when I opened the box to find the quilt. Mom and I just boohooed our heads off. Tater said she would've cried as well, but since she's on the happy pills she doesn't cry anymore. (I obviously need me some happy pills) After inspecting the near perfect hand stitching, I thought I had finally cried myself out, but then every time I'd look at the quilt for the next half hour I'd start crying again. As Memaw's health got worse and worse over the years, her hands drew up and were unusable. To think of how debilitated she was before she died and to see the work she had done with her hands years before was just nearly too much for me. I finally had to just put the lid on the box. I doubt there will be any more Diva babies and I know for sure there will be no more Tater babies, but you can bet that when I am a DivaGram I will wrap up my grandbabies in that quilt and I will tell them stories about their Memaw and probably just bawl all over the place.





So Merry Christmas, Memaw. Mom said that you were probably sitting up there in heaven, looking down on us and saying, "Well, it's about time you got those quilts done for those girls!" Oh Memaw, she finished them so beautifully and you would be so tickled with how they turned out. I know that you're pretty busy up there, making those amazing hot rolls for all of Heaven's population, but I miss you so much sometimes. We all do. Even the kids. They never knew you, but they feel your love, I just know it.

I hope your girls have made you proud.