Regina and I call it our annual care package because the contents are life essentials, and a few gimmicks that eventually turn into household words for much of the world.

And the package is a gift.

I’m talking about the Christmas box that comes from 3M site manager Jim Fincher and film operations plant manager Rebecca Morlando.

We are always amazed at the number of products 3M can package in a box that measures 11 inches by 11 inches and is 4 inches deep.

But we are in awe of the number of new products 3M rolls out each year. The box contains a blend of the new along with the staples that thrive on public acceptance.

Our daughters Lynn and Mary Grace always ask if we received our 3M gift. They look forward to getting their share.

Some years when one of them had fewer gifts under the tree than the other, and both were living at home, I’ve wrapped the box, stuck on a bow and tagged it to one of them from Santa.

This Christmas, Regina and I decided to divide the contents three ways.

After deciding what went to whom, we realized the division was along lifestyles and work.

Mary Grace, the graphic artist, is a note writer so she got the pop-up dispenser and a refill of notes and the Post-it Super Stick notes.

She’d be more likely to scrapbook so she got the scrapbooking tape and the Scotch Craft Stick.

Lynn, the college professor who teaches photography, got the 3M lens cleaning cloth and the Post-it page flags and flag pen and the photo laminating sheets.

Because she has three dogs that sometimes roam the house, she got the lint roller, too.

We were careful to divide the house-cleaning items three ways to keep down any suggestions that we were sending a message.

Regina grabbed the bag tags that apply easily, the Nexcare skin cream and the other rolls of tape, including the painter’s tape, which is a message to me.

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