I recently attended an annual Christmas ornament party. The ladies who attend bring a wrapped ornament. The hostess passed the gifts around randomly and we all gathered to open them. The object is to bring something that has a particular meaning to us and the recipient tries to guess who brought it and why.
I took Christopher Radko's "Sweet Ginger Tree" because I design and decorate Christmas trees professionally. The woman who received it immediately guessed that it was from me.
I received a very ugly glass ornament in a very ugly velvet box. The Santa ornament was shop worn and the box was clearly used. I couldn't guess who brought it, so the hostess asked the woman who brought it to identify herself and tell us what it meant. To my surprise, the woman sitting next to me, said that she had brought it because she liked to recycle. "You're regifting?," asked a surprised guest. "Yes," said the woman with a smirk, "it's from last year's ornament party."
Then she opened her gift, one of the most beautiful ornaments I have ever seen and given by the hostess. "We won't be seeing this one back here next year!" I blurted out, to gales of laughter from the others.
Well, that ornament is not the only thing we won't be seeing next year. When I went to the kitchen for more coffee, some of the guests were whispering about what had happened, wondering whether the person who brought that ugly Santa last year was in attendance. The hostess, also in the kitchen, she said the one thing we absolutely won't see next year is the woman who "regifted".
