Last Christmas, grandpa was feeling his age, and found that shopping for Christmas gifts had just become too difficult. So he decided to send checks to everyone, instead.

In each card he wrote, “Ho-Ho-Ho! Buy your own present!” and mailed them early.

He enjoyed the usual flurry of festivities, and it was only after the holiday that he noticed that he had received very few cards in return. Puzzled over this, he went into his study, intending to contact a couple of his relatives and ask what had happened. It was then, as he cleared off his cluttered desk, looking for his address book, that he got his answer. Under a stack of papers, he was stunned to find the gift checks which he had forgotten to enclose with the cards… and everyone was too embarrassed to mention it to him!