Our Greatest Gifts
our sisters recall beloved Christmas presents given and received
Sister Roselyn’s baby sister, Marilyn, proudly shows off her beloved dolls in 1955.
sister roselyn kuzma
A Gift Given: “Being the middle child of 11, we never received big, expensive gifts. Christmas was always a special time in our family as we opened our gifts with joy. The Christmas I remember most is when I was a freshmen in high school and our baby sister, Marilyn, was in first grade. She wanted a bride doll for Christmas. We searched and priced them, and they were much more expensive than all the other dolls. My sewing teacher said, ‘Just buy a doll and make a white dress!’ Marilyn’s doll already had a nice dress, so we decided to make her PJs. We had all kinds of material, and my mom helped me make more outfits for her. On Christmas Eve, we all watched her changing the outfits on her doll. We did forget all the other gifts we gave and received over the years, but our family never forgot that Christmas. On Marilyn’s 60th birthday, we decided that she needed a doll to remember. So all my family bought and wrapped dolls for her birthday. This time she received many, but no bride doll because she had one years ago. Just for the record I got an A in sewing!”
sister nancy celaschi
A Gift Received: I like to remember the best gift I never received. I was living in a small community of sisters — there were five of us — and someone suggested that we pick names for a Christmas gift “exchange.” Well, linguist that I am, a gift exchange is an oxymoron — you give gifts, you don’t exchange them. I spoke my mind, as usual, saying if I give a gift, I don’t expect anything in return. So I voted nay … and lost. One sister jumped up and started writing names on five pieces of paper, folding each one as she was done. When she got to the fifth piece, she stopped, looked up as if to remember which name she still had to write. Then the light went on in her eyes, she wrote something on that last piece of paper, folded it, passed them around, and that was the end of it. As time passed and the other four sisters would say something about whose name they had, I realized that my name was never in the drawing. Well, I guess God was taking me at my word. If I give a gift, I didn’t expect anything in return. When the evening of the gift exchange came and went, I did not say anything to anyone, and no one noticed. Only the next day did one of the sisters come and ask who had “my name.” I replied that no one did because God had taken me at my word. I was fine with that, but I have to admit, it has made me a little more careful about what I say.
A Gift Given: My brother and I decided that it would be really nice if Mom had one of those new-fangled electric mixers so she could bake us more cakes and cookies. So, off we went to the store and made a down payment of $3 on a $30 Christmas gift, agreeing that we would pay something on it every week until the whole thing was paid off. Imagine Mom’s surprise when she opened that expensive gift, wondering how we got so much money for it, only to learn that we we bought it “on credit.” Imagine our surprise (and maybe our relief, as well) when we learned that, the day after Christmas, she went down to the store and paid off the balance on her own Christmas gift.
Sister frances marie duncan
A Gift Given: I think that the most appreciated gift I ever gave was a box filled with special birthday and anniversary cards for my parents to send out throughout the year to all my family members. I would arrange them by month and dates and have them ready to be signed and sent. Since my mother was paralyzed completely on one side for 12 years, she could not go out herself to purchase cards, and that was not my father’s “thing to do.” They never wanted to miss a special day for their children or grandchildren, so they really appreciated this gift each year.
sister lois jean difalco
A Gift Received: My best gift was from my dear Aunt Ann when I received my Confimation. She was my sponsor, and she got me a bike.
A Gift Given: I’m sure my mother liked all her gifts. I once gave her a little white-glass chicken.
sister pat marie buranosky
A Gift Received: My sister Dorothy, cousin Gerry and I ( ages 5, 6 and 8) received a gift from our Aunt Pauline for Christmas in 1944. It was a beautiful African-American babydoll. This was stunning at the time. Looking back over the years, I realize that Christmas gift was the first of many graces I received to help me across the ‘bridge of prejudice’ into God’s Promised Land where we live as brothers and sisters in Christ.
sister francesca parana
A Gift Given: I always sewed a nice present for my mom, dad, aunts and uncles.
A Gift Received: I always got something nice for my playroom. I shared it with my dog, Quarter, who had two puppies — Nickel and Dime.