The Best Christmas and The Best Present

I'm in such good spirits notwithstanding this relentless cough and pinched nerve in my back that is keeping me from enjoying movement and comfort freely (not to mention the nasal congestion that is preventing me from tasting my food). I think people would guess that I just completed what I would consider to be the best holiday season ever, spending time at home with my family, friends, and of course my new girlfriend/old friend. Well, because the truth of the matter is simple, then there is no need to delve into detail and fully describe the events that constituted the most amazing two Christmas weeks ever.

There is, however, a need to blog about what I consider to be one of the best Christmas presents, if not, the best Christmas present I have ever received. Allow me first of all to briefly distinguish between Christmas presents and gifts before I describe the present I received. My take on gifts is something a bit more macro, intangible and experienced. Presents are tangible, wrapped and given. The best Christmas present I have received thus far was given to me by my girlfriend (big guess there).

She decided to dig deep into our past and construct an awesome reminder of our first few years as friends. Let me describe it. Within a rectangular frame is a picture of me and her on Christmas Eve 1993 - high school days - posing awkwardly as her mother memorialized a holiday image of us. I was much narrower in frame and had braces like any other geeky teen. I was wearing a big t-shirt and baggy jeans...and I had an undercut (give me a break, it was the in-thing back in the day). My arm was somewhat placed behind her, but not around her waist, although the picture makes it look like I have my arm around her. Sneaky. She was also wearing a big t-shirt and baggy jeans, and had her long long high school hair and a headband. There's a smirk on her face presumably shaped in reaction to the teasing that was going on behind the camera at the time. Body language? Her arms were crossed. Go figure.

The frame also included a Christmas card dated December 25, 1992, in which I greeted her Merry Christmas and thanked her for being a wonderful person even if I had just met her at the time (we met because I was supposed to be her senior prom date, but she decided not to take me). Notably, the message in the card was short compared to the novels of writing I would give to friends during my high school days. Accordingly, I wrote the following P.S. - "sorry so short...no time :)" What can I say? Things you do as a kid. But it didn't matter I guess. She admitted to me she had a crush on me back then (I had one on her too) so I got away with it.

To top it all off, my girlfriend, the artist, decided to draw her rendition of the streets of Tokyo around the card and picture, to symbolize how far we have gotten from being high school crushes up to Tokyo in November when things started anew.

That's it for the great Christmas present. How about greatest Christmas gift this year? Well, I think it's pretty obvious at this point.