Grab a tissue: Minnesotans share their favorite Christmas keepsakes

Susan Krantz, Minnetonka: "In 1980, I was in my sophomore year at St. Olaf College. My parents picked me up the evening of Dec.17 for Christmas break. It was dark and very cold, but rather than go home, we went straight to Methodist Hospital so that I could see my Grandpa Ernie, who was dying in the ICU. The sweet nurses had pinned a homemade yarn wreath on his hospital gown. Grandpa died on Dec. 21, his funeral was on the 23rd, and his 84th birthday would have been Christmas Day. My mother still cherishes the yarn wreath that the nurses pinned onto her father's hospital gown, and places it near the top of the Christmas tree each year to remember their kindness, and our sweet Grandpa Ernie." (The Minnesota Star Tribune)