When it came to holiday traditions, my grandparents didn't agree on everything. An ongoing feud about proper stuffing technique meant that each Thanksgiving, we had two stuffings on the table: one with the traditional bread cubes, and one made of Jiffy corn bread by my grandma from Arizona. But on Christmas day, you could count on finding all the grandparents crowded together around the puzzle table. 

I don't know when our family discovered the wooden Liberty puzzles -- just like they used to make them in the 1930s! -- but they are the trickiest and most satisfying of all, and are therefore hoarded by my mom to be brought out only at the holidays. With whimsical shapes (flowers, shoes, animals!) that smell of wood smoke, the puzzles are the perfect activity for when you are full of food and pleasantly lazy.

I am so grateful for the time I got to spend around the puzzle table with my grandparents at Christmas, jockeying for the best pieces and swapping advice. There's nothing like the gratifying plunk of a hefty wooden piece finally fitting in!

– Willa Brock

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more