On the 11th day of Christmas this is what the Cramers did: reminisce.

There were a few things my Grandma Bowman loved: jewelry, shoes, Nordstrom, See’s Candy and books.

I’ve inherited quite a few of her loves.

I remember every Christmas she would give us a BIG bag filled with beautiful books; she was very particular on her authors and illustrators. It was always neat looking at the books, but come on, they were books.

My parents have now started a new tradition where every Christmas Eve they give us one of the books back to add to our own collection. Almost all of the books are either autographed or have a personal note from my Grandma. Her insight to the gift was much beyond those Christmases when the books were originally given.