Reply #22: I like it in theory but hate it in practice [View All]

[Lorien]

I LOVE giving gifts, baking for friends and sending cards. I buy my Christmas gifts throughout the year, so I'm never madly dashing around for stuff this time of year. Shipping everything is expensive and a hassle (especially bad this year since I'm unemployed. I'll have to wait to send some things). I don't do expensive gifts anymore, but I try to do THOUGHTFUL gifts. I just got an email from the woman who is building my website. I was at her home and noticed that she collected books from the 1930s. She also mentioned to me while working on my website that she thought I ought to illustrate some of the Greek Myths. She said that she had ALWAYS been obsessed with them. So while at a library book sale this summer I found a beautifully illustrated 1935 volume on Greek mythology for $4.00. I wrapped it, along with a card and dropped it by her house two days ago. She emailed me later that evening " I have some of the book house books in another series and I love them and love the illustrations! I have never seen this one, but it is so spot on to what I like, it is unbelievably nice of you to think of me like that! Seriously, I doubt that I will get another present that I would like more than this". You don't have to spend a lot to make someone really happy! But I am always really depressed over the holidays. I know that I try my best to make OTHERS happy so that I can remain distracted from the fact that the holidays are always depressing as hell for a single person who really wishes that they had a family. I rarely get cards or gifts in return; that's just one of the additional "bonuses" of being unlucky in love; people have little respect for those of us who failed to become a part of any family unit or reproduce, so they blow us off during the holidays. On the rare occasions that I DO get a gift or thoughtful card I always write a heartfelt thank you letter in return, but I don't often get anything like the above email myself. So yeah, sometimes it all does feel like one giant sham, but I keep trying to make it fun and meaningful for everyone else, despite the fact that it always makes me feel like jumping in a frozen lake somewhere.

:-(