What do you get a Grandmother who has everything? Half a century ago I was 13 years old and lived just a few blocks away from my Grandmother Thinnes in Cincinnati, Ohio. I cut her yard and did other things around her house and she would pay me a few bucks and make me one of her delicious cheeseburgers and a lemonade. That’s how I got my mad money to go out and hit the clubs. That Christmas I gathered some index cards, a typewriter and some string and made this.

It contained a set of coupons made exclusively for her, as explained in the very fancy forward.

I had good intentions but in 1971 I did NOT have spellcheck or apparently even a dictionary.

But then I wasn’t a PROFESSIONAL (or even a PROFFESIONAL) person, despite my self-labeling. See how I footnoted that this offer was ONLY good for my Grandma Thinnes as if she might take advantage and farm me out to the neighborhood with this exclusive offer. In addition to grass cutting there were coupons for leaf raking, snow shoveling, car washing, window washing and apple picking. She had a great old and very productive apple tree in her yard. And just in case I didn’t think of something there was this…

There were only a few coupons redeemed as things came back to normal as 1972 went on. But whether or not she paid me, I always got her delicious cheeseburger and lemonade, topped off with a Nutter Butter cookie. Ah, a simpler age and a unique Christmas present. May you all have a wonderful and loving Christmas here in 2021.

As always you can find more at www.walterthinnes.com and on Twitter @walterthinnes