06 January 2020

[Bess Tuggle] - Memoirs of Surviving Children: Two Unexpected Gifts

2019 is history, but it left me with a couple memories that I have to share before moving on.  Two belated Christmas gifts.  Both were unexpected, and I love them both dearly.

The day after Christmas, we’d gotten somewhat back into our normal routine.  I let the dogs out between 2 and 3 a.m.  Yes, they’re potty trained.  Yes, they’re spoiled.  And yes, that’s part of our routine.  I get up for a snack, they go out, terrorize all the fleas farting in the neighborhood, and we all pile in to go back to sleep.

This time I had a special present on the front porch.

With tired, squinted eyes I saw a damp USPS document envelope on my grill, on my front porch, in the middle of the morning.  Two to three o’clock in the morning.

I have no idea how the delivery person got it there.

Most of our deliveries are dumped next to the driveway.  FedEx has learned to pull up in the yard and throw deliveries at the front door.  UPS, Amazon, DHL.. they all have their own idiosyncrasies, but there was a package for me.

It was a picture of my eldest son.

We lost my eldest six years ago in an accident.  The picture sent me was from the hangar he lived at in California.  Completely unexpected, and…  (I don’t know how to say or write how much it means)

The next one, a day later, was a video of one of our granddaughters.  

My youngest, with wife and two daughters, is currently stationed in Okinawa.  I actually managed to mail something on time for them to get their presents on Christmas, but it doesn’t always work out that way in the military.  I’ll spare you what Thing 4 says about military mail service overseas, but the video was -awesome-!

I got to watch one of our granddaughters open her Christmas present!  At just shy of 2 years old, she was enthralled!!!  Every little girl should have a Ballerina Jewelry Box.

And every Nana should get to watch her grandchild, wherever they might be, say “Thank you” and “I love you Nana.”  

Looking forward to 2020, whatever and wherever it might take us, and looking forward to another granddaughter this month!  Not that I need to be wrapped around another finger, but…

- Bess Tuggle