Hello – and I hope you had as restful a weekend as the season allows. It’s just two weeks now until Christmas Eve and we’re feeling strangely serene given how insulated we are from the whole holiday rush. Presents were handed off to be delivered to our family members in the BC interior; Phil, Colin and Brooke have received and opened their gifts, including my favourite of this year, a collection of three pairs of socks for Colin.
 
Before you think I’ve really lost my mind, let me qualify that by saying, yes, he got bigger presents. But when I found these in a store in downtown Palm Springs that only sells socks (the most amazing selection) I actually hugged the sales lady! I’m sure she thought I was nuts. I mean, who gets that excited about socks? Well, I do – but let me explain why. 
 
I went into the store and my jaw dropped as I saw hundreds – maybe thousands – of pairs of socks adorned with everything from sayings to famous faces to sports teams. Yes, this American store had these!
 

 
Hoping against hope, I asked the young woman who offered to help us if they had a pair with bananas on them. As you may know, we call ourselves Grama and Grandad Banana and when Colin wants to talk with us, that’s who he asks his Brooke to call. We call him Baby Banana or Cocobanana…just silly names, like we had for his mommy when she was growing up, and it’s fun. 
 

 
There you have them: Coconut (our nickname for him when he was born, child of Peanutty and a play on Colin’s name), Bananas (us) and monkeys (as in the “Five Little Monkeys” in one of his favourite song videos right now). 
 
Our pal Lisa took them back to Canada last month with her, popped them in a gift bag and mailed them to Brooke and Phil. The socks arrived and he opened them last week. He called out what each of them was and we were delighted – probably way too excited for a child to open socks than we had any right to be – and he said he wanted to wear the banana ones the next day. On Sunday he was wearing his coconut socks!
 

 
(This was the best picture I could get via Facetime – trying to capture a rambunctious four-year-old is a bit of a challenge!) 
 
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not so far removed from childhood that I don’t recall what a downer getting socks could be at Christmas! Typical grandparent gift of old, right? But these three pairs made me hope just a little bit that when he chooses to put them on in the morning (and, oh yes, he coordinates many of his outfits, including which socks he wants to wear to school, play and sleep) he might think of us.
 
While I’m not sure he gets the connection between us and the gift of the tablet he plays on, and through which we get our precious Facetime, those socks might just give him a better understanding (literally) of just how much two people very far away are thinking of and loving him. Oh, so much.
 
Have a gentle Monday and thank you for coming by. Here’s to warm feet, warm hearts and warm thoughts – always!