To Eric From Ms. Claus

On Christmas of 1968, a tag showed up: “To Eric From Ms. Claus” – my mother’s handwriting is unmistakable. The following year a gift showed up under the tree: “To Eric From Ms. Claus’s Husband” – my father was not to be bested. The handwriting and ink-color on the second half of the tag clearly did not match the handwriting on the first half  (which looked languorously faded like it had spent a year trapped in a box on an attic shelf).  And the following year this same card showed up: “To Eric From Ms. Claus’s Husband’s wife” – by golly, my mother was not going to be worsted!