The Perfect Gift

This week's moment comes from Sheila, as will be obvious.

Our family draws names for Christmas every year (only 87 shopping days left). Then we try to figure out the best $30 gift we can buy—hopefully one that will be just right for the intended person. No socks, ties, or fruit cakes allowed!

When we open our gifts, we, of course, want to know who they are from. We take turns unwrapping so we can enjoy each other’s gifts. After all, Christmas is certainly not a time to be focused on ourselves.

The Sunny Side

After the Cohen brothers’ cult classic, “O Brother Where Art Thou,” was released in the year 2000, my wife and I quickly became fans of the music sound track released with the film. More broadly, we found ourselves becoming bluegrass enthusiasts and passed that CD on to my parents.

It was not long before we heard back from my mother that she was playing it nearly every day and had a special fondness for the Carter family song, sung on the album by the Whites, called “Keep on the Sunny Side.”

Mom's Mind

Since this is the first "Moment" you have received in a while you might like an explanation. From time to time over the last few years we have missed a few weeks that were unannounced, so when an out-of-town trip at the beginning of August made it difficult to get something out, it did not seem to be a problem.