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My Grandparents Re-Used The Same Wrapping Paper For 20 Years

The memories we keep through generations

Kim Fedyk
Modern Women

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Photo by Joshua Lam on Unsplash

My grandpa was born in 1919, my grandma, a few years later, in 1921.

They were teenagers during The Great Depression, in their twenties during WWII, and spent much of their adulthood living through the Cold War.

They grew up in a time that later generations would only learn about in history books. An era of struggle, war, hardship, and ultimately of transformation.

These tumultuous years had an impact on how they lived and on how they viewed the world.

It affected what they held dear, their focus on the simple things, and how much they cherished each other.

I am lucky to have a lot of memories of my grandparents, but one that sticks with me is a Christmas morning when I was about ten.

I remember sitting around the tree, watching my Grandma pull a present out from under it and stick it on her lap.

She looked over at my Grandpa with years of love in her eyes. “Oh, it’s from Santa,” she said. “I recognize the wrapping paper.

At ten, I paid little attention to what gifts were wrapped in, especially other people’s gifts. But this time was different.

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