Még nincs meg minden ajándék? És ha 80 unokának kellene vásárolni?

Generous gran starts Christmas shopping in January for presents for her 80 grandchildren

A pensioner is preparing for a family-packed Christmas as she buys presents for her 80 grandchildren. Great-great-grandmother Mary Scholey, 82, not only has to start gift shopping early but also gets through piles of cards every year. And Mrs Scholey, called Nana Mary by the youngsters, has no trouble remembering the names of all 33 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

Mary, who is a mother of 10 children, said: “I never really thought I would have a big family but 60 years ago there wasn’t that much of a choice in the matter. I had two sets of twins and six other children so the family just kept on growing. We are not on Facebook or anything so I get all of the news about my family through word of mouth.” She added: “Christmas is a busy time because there are so many of us but it’s nice to see everybody. It’s always busy here anyway so I’m used to that.”

No sooner has Christmas finished than Mary, of Sheffield, starts planning the following year, keeping an eye out for bargains at markets in nearby Wombwell and Barnsley. Son Stephen said: “Obviously with so many to buy for mum doesn’t spend a lot on each one, but she always puts a lot of thought into it. The children always get a Christmas and birthday present from her but these days she misses out the adults, otherwise the cost would be ridiculous. Although with so many presents to hand out she sometimes forgets where she has stored them during the year.”

Another hurdle is getting all of Mary’s relatives into one building for special occasions, but that did not stop Stephen. More than 100 family members turned up to a festive family gathering as an early Christmas present for Mary, at Wadsley Bridge Working Men’s Club in Sheffield. And there is more joy to come for the super gran as four more great-great-grandchildren are due in the family next year.

www.mirror.co.uk

Fill in the gaps with the right words from the table. There is one extra.

1. I invited ten people to the party but only 5 ……………….. .

2. Many people send Christmas cards to their ……………….. .

3. We need to hurry, ……………….. we’ll miss the train.

4. Jack organised a ……………….. to celebrate his grandfather’s 90^th birthday.

5. It was great ……………….. to see all the family get together for our wedding.

answers: 1-turned up 2-relatives 3-otherwise 4-family gathering 5-joy