Life lessons - it's what you value at Christmas and every day of the year!

This is one of my most favorite Christmas presents this year. A dish towel. Yes, it is a dish towel, but not just any ordinary dish towel.

My grandmother, Jessie Yess, had embroidered this dish towel, but there is more to the story as Paul Harvey says.

My mother said when she was little, her grandmother Emma Jane Smith, my grandma Jessie's mom, came to live with them. Grandma Emma Jane was 71 when my mom was born. She lived to be 85.

Mom said Grandma Emma would ask Grandma Jessie for busy work in order to "contribute" something. She wanted to feel needed. Grandma Jessie would give her dish towels to hem. During the day, Grandma Emma would hem them by hand and give them to her daughter (Jessie). At night, my mom (Sharon) said she would remember seeing Grandma Jessie sitting taking out the hems in the dish towels Grandma Emma had hemmed during the day.

The next day, Grandma Emma would ask if there were any more needing hemmed and like clockwork, Grandma Jessie would hand her a batch and say, "Well, yes...these need to be hemmed."

At one time Mom says she remembers Grandma Emma getting wise to the situation, but the main part of the story is she wanted to feel needed. She wanted to contribute something to the household. She was getting older and couldn't see as well and probably couldn't do a lot of other housework she used to do, but she wanted to stay busy and do something.

This wonderful story of love showed me we ALL want to contribute something to the greater good - no matter our age. We want to feel needed and useful. No one wants to be a burden on others or offering no contributions in life.

This was a way Grandma Emma could feel needed, wanted, useful. What a wonderful love story about how a daughter made sure her mother felt those wonderful things.

This dish towel reminds me of my grandmother and how she was always busy helping do things like canning, playing with my sister and me, or folding laundry. Little things that showed her love for us. And that's why I value this simple dish towel so much...for the memory of that alone.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a wonderful, useful New Year!

Yikes!

I very clearly remember this Christmas. I certainly didn't think Santa was going to show up! I think I was smiling because my mom and dad told me to, but I was secretly SCARED TO DEATH! What if he knew we'd been bad and I was getting coal? My sister, Cathy, in the photo is even more scared!

But, thank Heaven, Santa brought us good presents and we ALWAYS remembered the year that Santa appeared on our doorstep!