a shopping tradition

so today . . . we went shopping. i don't quite understand it, but that is what we always do on the day after christmas. you would think that after shopping in every spare moment for the last month, we would never want to set foot in another mall. but you would be wrong! there is just something about going out and looking for unexpected bargains and battling the crowds and standing in line for 30 minutes to buy yet another sweater . . . and getting up at 5 a.m. to do it . . . but for my daughter, my mom and i, shopping on the day after thanksgiving and christmas is about more than buying gifts for our family and friends and looking for something great at 75% off for ourselves. it is about being together. yes, we try on clothes and buy a few christmas ornaments for next year. we keep our eyes open for that great buy that we can use for gift exchanges next christmas (a $20 gift means nothing to us!! we want to find a $50 gift on SALE for $20!) diandra ALWAYS buys jeans, my mom ALWAYS clips the coupons for macy's, we ALWAYS find our best deal at j.c.penney, and most importantly, we ALWAYS eat breakfast at mcdonald's. and while we are doing all of that, we talk. we laugh. we help each other. we learn about each other. we connect.

a few years ago, i was alone on the day after thanksgiving. my mom and dad had been unable to come, and diandra and rollie were out of town. but thanksgiving night i went through all the ads by myself and made my list. and i was out of the house before the sun came up the next day. i was alone, but i still felt this pull to go to the mall. it wasn't as much fun as when my mom and diandra go with me, but i still felt kind of connected to them, even though they were far away. i was certainly thinking about them, and i knew they would be thinking about me. we are not always able to go together anymore. but this christmas, for the first time in three years, we all got to go together. and we had fun! we found some bargains, diandra got jeans, we used mom's coupons at macy's, and again, the best deal of the day was found at j.c.penney . . .