Yesterday morning, opening gifts, I received a flat square package from "Ginger Makefield." I rolled my eyes, knowing it was the same story every year.
So, what is this tradition and how did it start?
When I was young, I liked to teach an imaginary class of dogs in the basement. It all started when I was writing random names in a Barbie notebook, imagining characters to go with them which eventually became a list of people who could be characters. I started to see it as a list of class students, pretending to make phone calls to confirm enrollment. Eventually I even got a pretend school kit, complete with a chalkboard, desk labels, attendance charts, reward jar, and much more. It was a blast. We had story time, geography with my huge book of maps, and every November I'd offer a choice of learning about families or farms.
Eventually there was a whole list. Some of the dogs I remember were Golde (a favorite), Lober; a tall dark fellow, Abutisum (pronounced "Aaa-but-tie-some''; imagine a cross between Abu from Aladdin and an Afghan hound), Russell, Phona...and others I no longer remember. What a bummer for teachers to forget so many of their students. Shame on me!
But they were real to me, and we had fun.
One more name I remember is Ginger Makefield. Ginger didn't show up a LOT, but she was there for a while. I want to think she was fun and spunky. The name "Makefield" came, I think, from the name of the neighborhood of a family friend.
I'm writing this story and it's occurring to me that I don't know why she always gave me a calendar. I think it was because I always liked the page-a-day ones, usually with dog photos on them. I kept one on my desk a lot as a child.
Also what my mom did was to make gifts "from" certain people on the gift tags, real or fictional. They could be anything from "Hermey the Elf" to one of our dogs or cats. Ginger was obviously someone I mentioned quite a bit, because she "gave" me a gift one year. I guess it was the dog calendar, being a dog.
And somehow it stuck. Ginger continued to give me calendars. From 365 Dogs to Wheel of Fortune, she always came though. When I got tired of the page-a-days, she might give me something else. Perhaps something with dogs. These days, she's been giving me wall calendars.
Though I haven't taught dog class in 21 years, Ginger still shows up in spirit every Christmas, this time giving me more useful wall calendars. Even this year...when the calendar featured a cat!
Thanks Ginger. Merry Christmas.
