Ten on Tuesday #15

Merry Christmas to all. I hope Santa was very good to each and every one of you!

10 Best Presents Ever Given To Me

1. The money my parents are giving us to help with our IVF expenses is certainly the biggest gift I've ever gotten, and without a doubt, one of the most meaningful.
   
   
2. And, we're hoping for that investment to pay off just in time for Christmas next year.
   
   
3. Of course, that wouldn't be possible if Shrike had not confessed her love for me - ten years ago, today.
   
   
4. Or if she'd not flown to Texas to meet me in real life few weeks later, over Valentine's Day weekend.
   


5. Or if she hadn't moved in with me, a few months after that, the day before my birthday.
   
   She still gives pretty good gifts, but I don't know that she'll ever be able to top those first few.
   


6. Oh wait - how about eggs, hatched from her very own ovaries. Yeah, that'll be a pretty nice one.


Now, to consider the more traditional gifts I've received over the years.


7. I have no memory of this, but I'm told that the Christmas that I was 2 1/2 I wanted nothing in the world more than a pink motorcycle. Santa looked high and low and couldn't find one, and was about ready to send a message to my parents to break the news to me that they couldn't be had, when he finally stumbled upon one, right before Christmas! (Is that how the story goes, Anonymama? Please correct me if I'm confused.)
   
   
8. My brother and I were pretty excited about the bikes we got from Santa when we were, maybe, six and seven.



9. We have a video of the Christmas that when my brother and I were about twelve and thirteen. Our grandma got a stereo from my parents on Christmas Eve and later, the camera captured him saying to me, "Whozat, I'm so glad Grandma got such a nice stereo." (Awwwww!) "Because maybe that means we'll get them, too." (Had we asked for stereos? We must have.) And, sure enough, the next morning there were two more just like it, from Santa.
   
   
10. This wasn't a big deal at the time, but when I graduated from high school, some friends of my parents gave me an electric pencil sharpener. Twenty-one and a half years later, I am still using it. It's certainly been one of the most useful, and durable, gifts I've ever received.

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