When I was thirteen, I received this rag doll, Annie, for Christmas. At the time, I didn't show very much appreciation to my mother for the gift because I thought I was too grown to be getting dolls for Christmas. Now, I treasure Annie because of all the hours and love that my mother put into making her, just for me. She told me once that she made her for me because she realized that year that I had never had a rag doll.
As I have stated in some of my scrapbook journals, my mother always worked throughout the entire year making things and storing back little things she could buy so she could wrap them for us to have lots of presents on Christmas Day. She had to be strong throughout the year every time we went shopping to say "No" to our wanting everything we saw in stores, but she did it because she knew Christmas was coming and she knew if she bought extras for us along and along, there would be nothing for Santa to bring us; her budget was just that limited! She wanted us to be thrilled at the first sight of the tree and all the gifts underneath it each Christmas morning and she always succeeded. We always were ecstatic, almost beyond control! She did all she did for us with her own hands and with cash she saved from her household and grocery money, no credit cards. And she shopped wisely for good quality things, she didn't buy junky toys. In fact, a testament of the quality she sought lies in the fact that I still own many of the gifts I received as a child. Thank you Mama--you're the best mother ever!
