Susie's Leaning Tower of Chocolate for 2011 December 20

(2) Tue Dec 20 2011 16:45 Santa for Mom: When I was 14 or 15, I woke up early on Christmas morning and realized we hadn't bought anything for my mom's stocking! Even though she was married at the time, it was clear that us kids were responsible to be Santa, at least for the stocking. I bravely woke up Leonard - 16 or 17 then - and we agreed to drive to 7-11. At 6:00 on Christmas morning, we drove 10 minutes into "town" to buy Coke, Hershey bars and who knows what else to fill mom's stocking. Not every teenage boy would do that. Even though everything was obviously purchased at a convenience store, I wonder if she had any idea we had gone that morning to do it.

The year I was 17, we drove to Texas for my cousin's wedding and spent Christmas there. We filled mom's stocking with items (including collectible patches) sneakily purchased from convenience stores all along Route 66.