Another nice present (trying to cheer myself up with happier thoughts): My uncle Bill had copies made of photographs of my great-grandparents (my grandmother's parents) and matted them up and sent a copy to each of the kids in the extended family, along with a gift card for Target to buy the frames we liked.

it was an awesome gift. I don't know a whole lot specifically about my family history, so it was nice - he also included a copy of their marriage notice and my great-grandfather's obituary which I think he found on microfilm somewhere. And he wrote their names on the back of the mats so I will never forget what their names were.

I hope he thinks to continue this practice. I never met great-grandfather Henry or great-grandmother Clara, but it's nice to have their pictures. And it's interesting to look at my great-grandfather - I can see a very strong family resemblance to my dad and even to me.

I bought some sort-of Mission style frames (I have some pseudo-Mission furniture in my house, also the pictures are circa 1918 so I figured it fit the era). I really like having pictures of my relatives (and a few friends) up in my house, it reminds me of where I came from and it reminds me that I'm not alone.