ONE LAST PRESENT

One of the top things people write about this time of year is about favorite Christmas presents you've given or received. On the giving side, there are a couple that stand out----giving two of my favorite teachers (and someone I have worked with doing sports for almost twenty years) gift certificates to Red Lobster as the fulfillment of a long-standing running joke between us three, and the first Christmas that I spent with my children. Let's just say my little Suzuki Vitara was full of presents as it made a trek from Burns to Paris one Saturday afternoon three years ago....

On the other end of the spectrum, I don't know if it's my favorite gift that I've received or not....but the story is worth telling for sure.....Warning.....This might sound a little bit Hallmark Channel-ish, but it's true.....

Let me begin by saying that my mother could not stand the music of Buck Owens. That might very well be an understatement. Now, she didn't mind the fact that I was a fan, as long as I turned the volume down. One of my favorite pranks I pulled on her was when I replaced her Conway Twitty CD that stayed in the player beside her bed with....you guessed it, Buck Owens' Greatest Hits....She was expecting
"Hello Darlin," and got "Tiger By The Tail.".....I got a kick out of that one, and she wanted to kick my...Well, you get the idea.

So....I have set up the story. As many of you know, my mother passed away in October 2005 after suffering from a variety of ailments. Christmas was always one of her favorite times, and that's where I got my love for the season. 2005 was the first Christmas that I spent without her, but there was one last present from her to me.

"Now, how is that possible?" you ask....Read on....

The day after Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite days of the year. My brother and I have always gone out on Black Friday, and shopped till we or our money stopped. On Thanksgiving, my Dad surprised me with a pair of hundred dollar bills. "Your mama had these in her pocketbook when she died," he said. "I know she would want you and Randall to have them for tomorrow."

So, I kept one of the bills, and gave the other one to him the next morning. I love spending money---maybe a little too much---but try as I might, I just couldn't see spending my little windfall on four tins of popcorn, a Kenny Rogers CD, and other stuff I didn't have to have. A special occasion, I reckoned...that's what I would use it for.

A couple of weeks later, I was surfing the net one night when I discovered eBay. I began typing various things in, and then I thought of something I had wanted for years. If you remember Buck Owens, you know that he had a red,white,and blue guitar that was marketed through Sears back in the 1960s. One time, I saw one....just a few blocks from where I live now, but I couldn't convince my parents to buy a $75 guitar for a child who didn't play......but there it was on e-bay...and the bid was $50. I filled out all the forms I needed to....and made my bid.

Then, I found out just how competitive the bidding world is. Someone topped me at 60....So, I went to 70.....Then, the bid went to 75....so I made one last bid....80 dollars....My competitor didn't top me.....so, I ended up winning a Red, White, and Blue acoustic guitar----identical to the one Owens played for $80....Well, not quite....with shipping...it came to $100....even.

Well, I told you before that I have no problem spending money, if I have it....but, at the same time...once I have to pay for something....I cringe a little bit....Do I really need it? How am I going to pay for it?, I asked myself. There was enough money in the checking account, but I had to get through Christmas myself.

Then....it occured to me. The guitar....shipping and all, came out to the grand total of $100.00. There was a hundred dollar bill in my billfold that I had been saving for a .....special occasion. So, I deposited the bill that I had been holding on to, and about a week later---the guitar came, which sits on top of a bookshelf in our office today.

Am I saying that it was planned that way.....from the start? I don't know. I'll admit to being a sucker for shows like Touched By An Angel, but sometimes I think that life hardens us to the point that we don't believe in little bolts of lightning that you can't explain.....In this case, all I will say...is evidence points to something outside of my control. You can call it coincidence, if you like......Not me....and, as the legendary Forrest Gump would say...'That's all I have to say about that.'