Worst and best gift

The Garfield that my Grandma’s sister made for me for Christmas when I was nine.

When I was nine, the only thing in the whole world I wanted for Christmas was Garfield.

I’d seen the stuffed cat at the store, with its soft fur and wry grin. I knew I would die without him.

To refresh my memory while I was writing this, I did an online search for “1980s Garfield stuffed animal.” My Garfield infatuation was almost forty years ago, after all. Looking at the pictures, I’m at a total loss as to why I wanted that damn cat. Nevertheless, it was my nine-year-old dying wish.

We still lived with my Grandma then. I was well aware that we didn’t have extra money. I knew Garfield was expensive because he was a name-brand cat, after all. I begged for him but didn’t expect to find him under the tree.

When it was time to open gifts, someone handed me a package that was about the right size and weight. There was no noise when I shook the box. Good sign.

I removed the wrapping paper and peeled back the Scotch tape holding down the flaps of the cardboard box. What I saw horrified me.

I reached into the box and slowly pulled out a bright orange crocheted cat. You could see the white polyester stuffing through the yarn. It even had white whiskers coming from its orange crocheted nose, and a big smile on its crocheted face. Was this supposed to be Garfield? Garfield would never smile like that.

It’s a known fact that kids tend to be jerks when they don’t get what they want, and I didn’t disappoint. The worst part about that moment was that my disdain showed on my face, and I knew it hurt my Grandma very deeply. She’d had her sister, my great aunt, crochet Garfield for me because we couldn’t afford the store version. I tried to recover and pretend that I loved it, but she’d been watching closely when I opened the gift. She’d been so proud of providing it for me.

I put the cat in the bedroom that I shared with my sister and Mom. Every time I saw it, it drove home how we couldn’t afford the things I wanted. I hated that cat.

It took years, but I finally understand how valuable that gift was. I still have him. If I’d gotten the “real” Garfield, I would have lost him years ago. Now when I look at that stuffed cat, I no longer see how poor we were. I see the richness of my Grandma’s love.

-Melanie Patterson

© Forged in Words 2022