“What do you want for Christmas?” is the question I dread being asked every holiday season.

When I was younger, this question was easier to answer. I’d simply hand my parents a Toys “R” Us catalog that had the toys I wanted circled in red pen and starred for emphasis.

Now that I’m older, I find that making my list is much more difficult. Sure, I could fill my list with wishes for electronics, Starbucks gift cards, and fancy clothes… but do I really need anything on that list?

This year I was spared the trouble of a list because the gift I needed, but, wasn’t looking for, came to me during the first week of December in the form of spending time with my grandmother.

When I learned that my grandma was coming up to visit me, I was shocked that she would put in the effort to drive all the way from Florida. Thirteen hours is an awfully long drive which is why she decided to stay for a week.

To entertain ourselves, my grandma and I indulged in one of our favorite hobbies, baking. Even though we baked over 450 cookies, the fun wasn’t in the cinnamon sugar.

The best part of our time together was the conversations we had while waiting for the cookies to come out of the oven.

She regaled me with stories of her mother staying up all night to make sugar cookies because, back then, they didn’t have Kitchenaid mixers. She reminisced about the smell of sugar cookies that perfumed the entire house during the holiday season. Her descriptions were so vivid that I felt I was right there with her in the 1950’s.

The time I spent with my grandma was so precious to me because who knows how much of it I’ll have left. In two years, I’ll be going off to college, definitely in another state, and, perhaps, in another country. Sure, we’ll able to call each other, but that’s not the same as four busy hands in oven mits. The opportunities we’ll have to chat will be few and far between.

These special moments that we’ve shared serve as a reminder that our relationship is strong no matter where she’s is or I am. And if I ever feel homesick, all I’ll have to do is bake a batch of sugar cookies.