Tradition continues1

I had such a wonderful day today. That is a miracle in itself as I stayed up all night doing "you know" meaning checking on Martin, and also had a major cough that would not go away. Then Little Joe came over as usual, and I could barely open my eyes for him, but precious boy that he is, he went right back to sleep. He went to Sissy's around 12 in the afternoon, and Martin and I decided that if we didn't get the crab legs, they would probably be gone everywhere. We were going to sneak out and get a baked potato for lunch, and then Sissy called and asked us out to lunch. Tee-hee, free lunch! So we met them for lunch and then went on our way taking Eli with us to find the crab. Everyone is pitching in to help with the cost of the crab, or believe me, there would be none this year. It has really gone up. First we went to one store, and the supposedly King crab legs looked like snow crab. Nope, won't do. Then we went to another store, and the King crab legs were magnificent! But, they were also 30.oo a pound, so, nope, won't do either. Finally we went to Sam's where we had seen them for 20.oo a pound. Sure enough, there were some really nice king crab legs that looked just like the 30.00 a pound ones we had seen, but were only 20.00 a pound. Now, listen up. I KNOW that 20.00 a pound is exhorbitant for any kind of seafood, but we only get it once a year, and only on Christmas Eve. We asked the seafood manager if he had a box of crab legs for us to buy, as they are slightly cheaper by the box instead of by the pound. He went and looked, and no, he didn't, and as a matter of fact, the only ones they had were already in the seafood case. Martin and I quickly took the ones from the case and put them in the basket, thanking our lucky stars that we even got any at all. As we stood there, silently congratulating ourselves, as only a couple that has been married for 40 years can do, the manager took the basket and went to weigh and put a price on the box he was putting them in. Martin went over to sample some bacon that was on special and given as samples, and I stood by the counter, waiting for our precious crab legs. A man and his wife walked up to the case where the crab legs had been, and began to argue. "I told you that we should have gotten them when we were here! Now look! They are gone!" Uh-oh, awkward for me, because I knew they were mad because all the crab was gone. I stood there, minding my own business, and continued to listen. They went back and forth about how she never listened to him and if for only once she had taken his advice, they would be having crab for Christmas! She reminded him that he was a "know-it-all" and how could she have known that some selfish so and so would come along and hog all the crab legs. There was more said, but I can't repeat it here. Okay, enough said, I got Martin's attention, and motioned with my head that we should move along and just get the crab and get out. We quietly went to the door where the seafood manager was weighing and pricing our precious cargo, and waited for him to bring it out so we could get out without an incident. Does anything go smoothly for us? NEVER! About the minute the manager brought out our priced box of treasure, the man who was arguing with his wife stomped up to the door and demanded to know if there was any more crab legs to be had. See, now is the time to sneak away, but of course the seafood manager announced loudly that the last of the crab legs had just been claimed by HIM- meaning Martin. The unhappy crab deprived customer swung around and said, "Who? Him?" pointng at Martin. "Yep, he bought the last of it" crowed the manager. The customer steps closer to Martin and says, "Are you kidding me? You bought it all? All of it? Seriously, do you actually need all of it?" Martin said yes he did, and the guy starts in about how he didn't understand why Martin needed all of it. I, on the other hand, am calculating how I am going to knock this guy into next week if he upsets my honey. I could take him, I outweighed him by at least 50 lbs. He wouldn't know what to do if a huge woman with a tracheostomy in her throat jumped on him and I figured that would give Martin time to get away with the stash. Let me tell you that wonders never cease. My honey quietly lied to the guy telling him that we had to go to another Sam's to get some more, and he would be glad to tell the him how to get there. Martin towered over this guy, and I guess that the guy decided that he should just back off and go somewhere else to get his crab. I noticed that a small crowd had formed listening with interest, and I had to decency to at least look like I might be a bit embarrassed with all the hoopla. All is well, we took our crab and went to the front and paid for it. We are going to have our crab as usual on Christmas Eve, but I think it will taste just a bit better this year, as we came out the victors in the "crab confrontation". By the way, others had come up to find out if there were any more crab legs, but just turned around and left after watching that guy act so stupid.

This evening, I was wrapping a few more presents, and the a knock sounded at the door. It was a tiny knock, very quiet, and if not for the dogs, I wouldn't have even heard it. I put the dogs out in the back and answered the front door. There stood the children of a precious family that means the world to me, and they were holding a cookie jar. The cookie jar was shaped like Santa, holding a lollipop, and was so very bright red and beautiful. I was so surprised! "Merry Christmas Nana!" the children said, and immediately, tears formed in my eyes. How precious that they would bring me a cookie jar for Christmas! I hugged and kissed them, and thought about how no gift is more special than one chosen especially for me. Then, the little boy said, "Nana, look inside the cookie jar, and you can keep the cookie jar too!" Looking inside the jar, I saw that it was full of Christmas cookies, homemade by these darlings just for me. They were sugar cookies, decorated with colored sugar, and made in different shapes. The tears flowed over. I quickly assurred the children that they were "happy tears", and I hugged them again. I waved to thier parents, and as the little boy went back to the car, he said, "She's crying. But it's okay, they are happy tears!" Happy tears are flowing again as I write to recount this experience. I probably won't make Christmas cookies this year, for many reasons, but mainly because I could never make them as special and perfect as the ones in this cookie jar. And another thing, I am going to display the jar all year, not just for Christmas, so that I can be reminded daily of the love that is mine by this precious family.

So, tradition continues. Cookies were made, not by me, but for me. The purchase of crab legs gave me an experience that I will remember for many years to come. What is tradition anyway, but precious memories, played out over and over?