Rejected Presents

When Mother wasn’t contorting her face in a reminder to say ‘thank you’ for birthday presents, she inadvertently dismissed other, less tangible gifts for us. Like when Aunt Jen invited us all to the Crayola Factory, her treat, for Libby’s birthday. Our collective disinterest postponed the trip several times until it was forgotten and never spoke of again. Or like the dozens of fifty dollar checks which were regularly sent at birthdays and on Christmas by our step-grandma Linda. Out of sheer laziness, we never managed to take them to the bank to be cashed. We just couldn’t be bothered.