Christmas is inching closer, and as I was putting up some winter decor (yes, I'm one of those people), I was going down my list in my mind of what gifts I have to buy and for whom. It got me thinking about my mom's amazing gift-giving abilities, but then I started thinking about all the things I'd like to thank her for if she were still here. She used to drive me forty-five minutes to go to a friend's house in high school. She never complained, never made me feel bad about it. She did it. And sometimes sat in her car somewhere reading until it was time to pick me up, or she'd go back and forth. I never realized how much time that took until I became a parent. My dad used to come over in the mornings when I was a new parent (having lost my mom earlier in the year my son was born) to play with him so I could shower and prepare for the day. Of course there was the fact he loved seeing his grandson, but I also know he was doing it because that is a small way he felt he