I really wanted to call in with this, but I am listening on the archive.
This past christmas, my one aunt was not able to make it back to the family homestead back in Illinois. My aunt is not known for her great gifts. One year, she brought in a bag of things she bought in Japan at the 1000 Yen Store, which is basically The Dollar Store. I got a plastic cheese grater with a plastic tub to catch the grated cheese. At least, that's what it looked like. I couldn't read the instructions, or the product name, since it was in Japanese.
Another year, when I was 16, my brothers, my cousins, and I got a garment bag. It broke the first time I used it. I'm more amazed I actually tried to use it.
This past year, though, is the topper.
Like I said before, she couldn't make it for the actual Christmas Eve festivities that we have. She brought in her gifts at a later date, after I had gone back to New Jersey. Later on in the year, I had to come home for another family event on Memorial Day. My mom gave me a wrapped present from my aunt and said "I don't know what it is, but she said it was for your 'collection'." I don't collect anything, so I was very intrigued as to what it could be. I opened it up to find a small plaster snowman. A glitter covered snowman. I'm a 23-year-old man and she gave me a snowman for my snowman collection. My mom also recognized the snowman as same one another aunt gave to the families the year prior.
At that point, don't get me anything. I'm an adult now, and I can handle not getting something.
