Each year, I write a Christmas list for my family. It's not that I don't enjoy the 1 of a perfectly chosen gift that I would never have thought to 2 . It's just that, more often than not, someone else's 3 of the perfectly chosen gift is not mine. I'd rather they just stuck to the 4 . However, there is one area where I 5 hand over control—the Christmas stocking.
My mum makes a stocking for me every year. There are 6 to the stocking. It will always 7 chocolate coins and a pair of gloves. There will be some sort of seasonal 8 , like colourful lights. And then there will be 9 supplies. We'll buy each other little bits of skin care, such as soaps. There will be kitchen tools to replace the old ones. We use stockings as a chance to 10 each other's daily lives, to replace the small things that you 11 because there's always something more important to spend the money on.
These oversized socks packed with small gifts might not be 12 in fancy ribbon (丝带) and placed under the tree, but to me they bring as much 13 as the most expensive present. They14 that the person who filled that stocking understands your life, sees the details of it, and wants to make it easier.
Buying a woman a beautiful piece of jewellery that absolutely meets her taste isn't easy, but finding ten small items that will 15 her daily life is an act that requires truly seeing her.
