I was asked, a few days ago, what was the best Christmas present I had ever received.
Initially, I thought this was the easiest question in the world: over the years, I got many wonderful presents.
On closer inspection, however, only a few stuck in my mind. A tool which catches your house spiders at a distance and helps you remove them without killing (or TOUCHING) them…
… An orange, a new pyjama set and one LARGE chocolate coin I received in December 1989…
How about other beautiful gifts I had received along the years, on other occasions? Letters from my best friend: long, hand-written, in neat writing, with words crossed over in straight, singular lines. A bottle of perfume from my sister, not the one I liked, but the one she used to ‘borrow’ every so often as a teenager.
On my thirtieth birthday, I had a two-week old baby – my first child, a lot of uncertainties, and a truckload of tiredness. My very good friend came over and stayed, baked me a beautiful cake, cooked and took care of me, and alleviated all of that. A fairy godmother.
To conclude: in my books, Christmas presents, and presents in general, come from kindness and are unique.
FIVE CHRISTMAS STORIES
So here’s my Christmas present to you: five Christmas stories, over the next five weeks.
Read them on here, on the blog, every Wednesday at around this time.
Every Wednesday, at a quarter past seven, let’s meet for a glass of hot milk and a story, and become children again, if only for a short while.
Find the first Christmas story here.