I was the more fortunate child in the family. Next to the last in line, which meant most of my older siblings were married and I could expect a gift from them at Christmas. Actually, they provided more of my toys than Santa Claus did. In 1992 my oldest sister died of cancer. I have a tape of her from 1991 telling about Christmas when she was a child. I recall the tears streaming down her face as she told about the gifts she and the second sister received from Santa. Instead of sadness, hers were tears of laughter. Their long brown cotton stockings were hung on the post at the foot of the bed. One orange, one apple, and 2-3 nuts were placed in the stockings, and of course, that stick of peppermint candy. There was no money for presents. It seemed that Mama was always pregnant, had one or two tugging at her skirttail, and never had a chance to go shopping anyway. She was always cooking, cleaning, and washing diapers. On Christmas eve, she would send Daddy downtown at the last minute to find something for the girls, just when the stores were ready to close. The extent of Daddy's shopping was when he went to the service station to buy spark plugs for the car or the bank on Saturday morning to make a payment on a loan. Mama bought all his clothes, ordering his Sunday suits and dress shoes from the door-to-door salesman. Inez was six, Ada was 4-1/2. So far, Santa hadn't made preparations for their Christmas except for the orange, apple, nuts and stick candy. Mama sent Daddy to town to buy the girls something to tuck inside their stockings from Santa. At the Ten-Cents Store, shelves were bare of Christmas toys so Daddy went to the local hardware store where they sold dishes and silverware. The next morning Inez and Ada jumped out of their bed, anxious to see what Santa had brought them. After removing the fruit and nuts from their stockings, they felt something hard in the toe of their stockings. All excited, they reached deep down to retrieve the items, only to discover Santa had left both of them a small glass vase. One was blue, the other was green. The vases cost five cents each. The next year Daddy made his annual trip downtown to buy the girls' special gifts. That year, they each received a frog. No! Not a live frog that croaks, nor small china figurine frogs, but glass frogs, the kind used for flower arranging. G. Lee, you seem to bring out the stories in us that we have long forgotten. Thanks!