6. This Week's Stories and Requests for Help We try to post stories and   
   comments from our readers each week. Send your story to newsletter@tias.com   
   and we'll publish it in an upcoming newsletter.  Please share your story about   
   what you collect and what got you started collecting.  We *love* to hear your   
   stories!  If you have a story you'd like to share, tell us about it and if you   
   have any photos, we'd love to see them!  Send us an email to new   
   letter@tias.com so we can share your story with the rest of our readers.   
   --   
      
   Irene J shared this Christmas story: "Back in the early 1970s, when my two   
   oldest were very young, my father-in-law was in the hospital recovering from a   
   heart attack just before Christmas.  My husband and I had spent many long   
   hours at the hospital and were exhausted enough from that, but also from   
   trying to take care of the holiday preparations for our young family.    
   Christmas morning, about 6am, I awoke to the sound of running water and   
   splashing.  We jumped out of bed and found our kids in the bathroom, the sink   
   plugged up and full of water, still running and overflowing, while they were   
   floating around little "boats" - a set of wood salt and pepper grinders that   
   were a gift for a family member.  Trying to wipe the sleep and exhaustion out   
   of our eyes, our next thought was - oh, oh - did they open presents not meant   
   for them?  We ran into the family room, and to our horror, every single   
   package had been torn opened.   
      
   We were devastated to know that now all the gifts for our families had to be   
   re-wrapped.  Even worse was the knowledge that the kids had opened each of   
   their gifts without us there to see their excitement and Christmas awe.  Not   
   wanting to make this a Christmas of horror for the kids, rather than get upset   
   with them, we asked them to bring each opened gift to us and tell us who they   
   thought each gift might be for.  At least we were able to squeeze a bit of joy   
   out of that morning.  For years after, when we tucked the kids into bed on   
   Christmas Eve, we repeatedly told each of them that they were NOT to open   
   anything before they got us out of bed in the morning."   
      
   Remember that you can check out our Facebook page for some interesting   
   updates.  Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/TIASAntiques If you have   
   photos of items you would like to share you can post them there as well.  You   
   don't need a Facebook account to visit our page.  If you do have a Facebook   
   account please "Like" us!   
      
   Also, everyday, we post a "This Date In History" story on our Facebook page,   
   along with an item for sale on http://www.tias.com that relates to the event.    
   We're also highlighting one item each day that we find particularly   
   interesting - something that's very unusual!  Check it out!   
      
   Thanks to those of you who have responded in the past! We really enjoy, and   
   appreciate, the feedback!   
      
   It's always fun to see what other people own and treasure! Although we can't   
   put the pictures in this newsletter, please visit our Facebook page to view   
   the images and learn about those items.   
      
   Please let us know if you'd like us to highlight one of your favorite   
   collectibles!   
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   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-2   
    * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)