Linda and I were lucky enough to celebrate 48 Christmases together. Except for the two I was in Vietnam, we celebrated with family and friends, sometimes we were hundreds, even thousands of miles from family but we were together. I can't remember all of them in detail but there were a few that stand out in one way or another.
The year before we were married, we each gave the other a special gift. Linda had a picture from a calendar of an old sailing ship ploughing through the waves. She cherished the picture, for some reason, it stood out for her and she vowed to have the picture framed and hung on a wall in "her" home. With her mother's help I took the picture to a local artist and had a painting done and framed, it cost me $50 which was half a month's pay in 1966. She was ecstatic and the picture hung in every home we had. When she passed away, I gave it to Danny to hold for MJ when she gets older.
That same year Linda gave me a special gift but let me give you a little background to start this off. Linda had learned to sew in her home economics class, she was proud that she could make her own clothes which she considered a necessity because she had a hard time buying things that fit her due to her being so tall. This was the start to her skills with a needle and thread. It was now that she decided to expand her skills and try knitting, seeing as how I was the object of her desire why not knit something for me. I was surprised to open my gift that Christmas, there was this beautiful burgundy turtleneck sweater and I mean it was beautiful. There was just one problem, she misjudged her measurements and it came out a little large, actually it was a lot large like there may have been enough room for both to be in it at the same time. She was a little ticked at herself and was going to rip it apart and do it over but I refused to let her. It really came in handy when we lived in Tennessee as the winters could get cold, even though it was a little oversized it was still warm and comfortable, I proudly war the sweater for years. I think the sweater disappeared when we moved to Florida in the late 1970's.
Linda's skill with a needle and thread grew over the years, the things she made were really works of art and there are people all across the country who were warmed by her blankets, soothed by her needle point pictures but for some reason she never again knitted anything.
I always tried to get her something for Christmas that would surprise her. When we first met, she had a dream to go to Germany. Her mother's family were of German ancestry, her grandmother spoke little English, her mother spoke German and taught Linda who enhanced her abilities by taking German courses in school. She gave up on that dream and married me instead. In 1970 I was working for a jewelry store and found out they sold things other than jewelry, they sold coocoo clocks from the black forest in Germany. It cost me $50 but that clock hung in every place we lived until she passed away. Every time we moved, which seemed to be often, Linda would carefully pack the clock in its own box and it was one of the first things I would hang on the wall. The clock quit working many years ago and became just a wall hanging, Clay has it now, I hope he gets it fixed one day.
Linda's talents with a needle and thread improved quickly, she went from making clothes to crocheting and needle point. We bought our first home and the walls decorated with several pieces of her artwork. I think it was 1973, Linda had her eye on a needle point kit called the "Four Season", someday she was going to find the time and get it. I bought the kit for her for Christmas, it cost another $50, I guess I was good at buying $50 gifts. The kit hardly weighed a pound and had everything she would need. I had to be sneaky and make her wonder what was in the box wrapped in bright paper and had her name on it so I got a box that was too big and added about a dozen or more king size bottles of coke then left it on the floor in front of the tree. When she came home I pointed it out and had her push it under the tree.
We carried on the Riggan tradition of opening our gifts on Christmas Eve. Linda was surprised when she opened that heavy box, the smile on her face was all I needed. Two days later she had started work on the project that would ultimately take about four years to complete. She labored over the project like no other, every thread had to be just the right tension or she would rip out rows and redo them. She would become so intense in her work that she would have to put it down for days or weeks even but in the end it paid off. When it was finished she had it framed with a special glass that won't allow the light to fade the colors then it was hung over our bed for the rest of her days. To me it was probably her finest piece, Danny and Marie have it hanging on a wall and will give it to one of the kids when they are older, I can only hope they see the beauty I see in it and appreciate the labor of love that Linda put into it.
Christmas was and still is a favorite time of the year, it more so for Linda, I have never liked all the shopping and trying to figure out what gift might make people happy. Linda on the other hand knew the exact thing each person wanted or needed and she enjoyed buying the gifts and wrapping them, it was hard enough for me to figure out what to give Linda. Linda had next Christmas all planned out and most of the gifts bought by her birthday in March.
Over the years I bought her jewelry, clothes and every now and then something that would put the extra sparkle in her eyes, she always repaid me with her smile. As for me, she always had the knack for giving me the one thing I needed or wanted, a fishing reel, a hammer or a new coat but her best gifts were the smiles I got from whatever I gave her because to me it was all about the giving.
Looking back, it's good to know that I chose a gift that not only made Linda happy every time she looked at it but now these things are bringing joy to her kids and grandkids. Hopefully they will become heirlooms for generations to pass down for many years to come.
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