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        New Message Board Archives >> 2004 Posts >> Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
        
(Message started by: EBaby on Dec 23rd, 2004, 12:54pm)
Title: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by EBaby on Dec 23rd, 2004, 12:54pm

               I'm Not Scrooge...I'm Just Broke
                      By Storm Stafford

    It's said that you can never have too many friends, but Christmas was just a week away and I had five people left to shop for on my Christmas list and only three dollars to my name.  How do you tell your mother, brother and three friends that you can only spend sixty cents on each of them?
    "Let's set a price limit on our gifts this year," I suggested to my best friend, Joanie.
    "That's a good idea," Joanie agreed.  "How about nothing over five dollars?"
    "How about nothing over sixty cents?"  I felt like the biggest cheapskate in the world.
    "I guess this is where I'm supposed to say it's not the gift, it's the thought that counts," Joanie smiled.  "But don't blame me if all you get is a stick of gum!"
    It is almost impossible to buy anything for under sixty cents, so it was really going to have to be very small gifts with very big thoughts.  I'd never spent so much time or effort trying to come up with the right gift for the right person.
    Finally, Christmas day arrived, and I was worried how people would feel about my "cheap" gifts.
    I gave my mother a scented candle with a note that said, "You are the brightest light in my life."  She almost cried when she read the note.
    I gave my brother a wooden ruler.  On the back of it I'd painted, "No brother in the world could measure up to you."  He gave me a bag of sugar and had written on it, "You're sweet."  He'd never said anything like that to me before.
    For Joanie, I painted an old pair of shoes gold and stuck dried flowers in them with a note that said, "No one could ever fill your shoes."  She gave me a feather and a Band-Aid.  She said I always tickled her funny bone and made her laugh until her sides ached.
    To my other two friends, I gave one a paper fan and wrote on it, "I'm your biggest fan."  To the other, I gave a calculator that cost one dollar and I painted a message on the back, "You can always count on me."  They gave me a rusty horseshoe for luck and a bundle of sticks tied with a red ribbon because "friends stick together."
    I don't remember all the other gifts that I got from people last Christmas, but I remember every one of the "cheap" gifts.
    My brother thinks I'm sweet.  My mother knows she is the most important person in my life.  Joanie thinks I'm funny and I make her laugh, which is important because her dad moved away last year and she misses him and is sad sometimes.
    I was worried I wouldn't have enough money for Christmas gifts, but I gave gifts to five people and still had twenty cents left over.  We all still talk about our "cheap" gifts and how much fun it was to come up with a gift that cost pennies but told someone how we really felt about them.  On my bookshelf, I still have a bag of sugar, a feather, a horseshoe and a bundle of sticks...and they are priceless.
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by Jeepgun on Dec 23rd, 2004, 1:09pm
Awesome... :) Thank you, Elaine. Merry Christmas to you and yours.  [smiley=hug.gif]

-Frank
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by Langa on Dec 23rd, 2004, 1:32pm
This is great!  Thank you...

Langa  ;;D
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by Jimmy_B on Dec 23rd, 2004, 2:02pm
Great story. Keep the meaning of this season in perspective.

Jimmy
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by nani on Dec 23rd, 2004, 2:33pm
Loved this!! Thank you.  :) Merry Christmas!
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by becky8 on Dec 23rd, 2004, 2:36pm
Good ideas!! Thanks!
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by Leesa on Dec 23rd, 2004, 3:27pm
Gifts that come from the heart are worth more then the ones you get from any store!! It doesnt matter the cost its the HEART behind the gift that matters.
E, these are some of the BEST ideas!!! Thank you for the reminder of what its all about!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours from our house to yours.
We love ya!!!
Love, Leesa

PS: I LOVE MY CARDS those will stay up all year!! Thank you!!!!
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by Charlie on Dec 23rd, 2004, 3:29pm
That's great E.

Here's hoping your Christmas will make you feel like a million.

Charlie
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by BarbaraD on Dec 23rd, 2004, 3:37pm
That's good Elaine. Shows the true spirit of Christmas.

This year Caleb and I made most of our gifts. Maybe they're not perfect like you'd BUY at the store, but they come from the heart. That's what Christmas giving is all about I think.

Also all our tree decorations are homemade. The star painted with fingernail polish is one of my favorites, but Caleb is so happy with "his Christmas Tree" that it makes it perfect. W've got reindeer and Santa's made out of paper plates on the fridge and the house is all decorated in our "crafts". And I've enjoyed this holiday season more than any in a long time.

Didn't mean to write a book, but that story just got to me.

Hugs BD
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by Jimi on Dec 23rd, 2004, 4:14pm
  Great story Elaine. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

P.S. Thanks for the beautiful card.
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by EBaby on Dec 23rd, 2004, 6:26pm
Barbara I am glad this is a good Christmas for you.
Grandchildren seem to make Christmas fun again.
I am enjoying Christmas more this year also.
Merry Christmas Barbara!

Jimi glad you liked it! Merry Christmas.

My children were just babies, My youngest was not even a year old. My first husband and I had split up. I did not have much money. I put some toys on layaway and paid every week on it.  When I went to pick up my layaway they could not find it. The toys that I had wanted to get my children were all gone. I had to settle for what I could find.
That night as I played Santa, I looked at the stuff under the tree and I just cried.
Christmas morning when my Children came down the stairs and open their gifts they were excited and had fun all day.
Thats when I learned Christmas is in the heart not in the gifts.


I do hope you all have a Merry Christmas!  :)
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by Grandma_Sweet_Boy on Dec 23rd, 2004, 6:45pm
Very touching story Elaine.  Sounds like you know the true meaning of Christmas.  Thanks for sharing it.  Sometimes it just too easy to lose sight of the reason for the season!

Carol
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by BobG on Dec 24th, 2004, 4:31am
Wonderful story Lady Elaine. Thank you.

And a very Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by sappygirl13 on Dec 24th, 2004, 5:09am
Great story!!  It's nice to know that people can still enjoy the "simple things."  Those are the ones that definitely mean the most!!
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by Jackie on Dec 24th, 2004, 5:25am
Elaine, my dear friend.....who will always find a silver lining and figure out how to make a "silk purse out of a sows ear".

Merry Christmas, E.....

Love to you and yours,

Jacks 8)
Title: Re: Broke at Christmas heres a idea!
Post by OneEyeBlind on Dec 24th, 2004, 5:54am
Great story E.  May someone you hold dear this year give you a candle with a note like that.  Touching.  


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