This drum is one of many ornaments that were given to me by Mrs. Reed.

Mr. & Mrs. Reed were the next door neighbors to my Nixon grandparents.  Every year Mrs. Reed gave me, my sister, and my cousin Gretchen a nice ornament for Christmas.  In a time when many of our ornaments were handmade, Mrs. Reeds were always more elegant (glass birds, for instance). 

We rarely saw Mrs. Reed.  She wasn't very social.  She had a small backyard, but it was an intricate, manicured garden.  Turtles lived there that she took care of.  Only three or four times do I ever remember entering their well-kept home.  If we did see her, she would call out from her front porch, and we would call back from my grandparents' front porch.  

She was a nice lady who chose to be generous to her neighbors' grandkids.  And now I think of her every year when I decorate the Christmas tree.