Handmade items most precious gifts
The malls are packed, parking lots overflow, and everywhere you look you see people with a certain pre-Christmas panic in their eyes. They’re looking for the perfect gift.
They scour store shelves, sparing no expense in the attempt to purchase that one special present. But Pat Carlin knows a secret. Sometimes the most meaningful gifts can’t be purchased at any mall, shopping center or online store.
Many years ago her daughter, Susan, was a graduate student in California. Susan’s husband, Patrick, had suffered a back injury on his job and was unable to work for a time. “Susan worked two jobs to try to keep afloat,” said Carlin. “Come Christmas there was no money to be had for gifts.”
Imagine Carlin’s surprise that year when she unwrapped a package from her cash-strapped kids on Christmas morning. Inside she found several items she now considers among her most precious possessions.
“While out on a walk, they spied a wood shingle on the ground,” Carlin said. “Inspiration followed, and loving hands made my dearest gifts.”
Part of the shingle became a roof on a tiny log cabin Patrick fashioned from wood dowels. He crafted a front porch for the cabin, using matchsticks for the porch rail. With exquisite attention to detail he crafted panes and shutters for the windows. He used what was left of the shingle to make a log cabin refrigerator magnet.
But his creativity didn’t end there. Another of her treasures made by her son-in-law that lean year was a Santa. Today, the charming Claus rests on her mantle in her cozy North Side home. Using a soda bottle and brown paper grocery bags, Patrick had created a work of folk art. Santa’s beard is made from shredded rope, and his staff is a twig. He even has a laden sack, slung behind his back. His cheeks and robes are a soft rosy red and his eyes seem to twinkle.
“I was so overwhelmed, it made me cry,” Carlin said when she recalled unwrapping that present. “I knew they didn’t have any money.”
Eventually things improved for her daughter and son-in-law. Patrick recovered from his injury and Susan went on to earn two masters degrees and a doctorate. But Carlin still counts herself fortunate for the lesson she learned that Christmas. No expensive-collector’s edition Santa or pricey log cabin replica can replace the lasting value of her best Christmas present.
She said, “These gifts fill me with so much tenderness for those who struggled to make the most meaningful gifts from their hands, with little else than love.”