I received several wonderful gifts today, which made this day special and precious to me. Birthday? Nope. Anniversary? Nope. Won the lottery? Nope. It was just ... today .... no special event requiring gifts of diamonds, gold, or silver.
Gift #1: My dearest friend was able to spend the whole day with me; we talked, and laughed, quilted together, had lunch together, quilted some more, talked some more, and toasted our quilting efforts and our time together with a glass of wine at the end of the day. This was a very special gift of TIME TOGETHER! We have been friends for over 20 years, and have shared both happiness and sadness, but because our lives are so busy, we've rarely been able to spend more than a couple of hours at a time together. You would not believe what we can pack into two hours when we ARE together! And today, for the first time in a long time, we had the luxury of a long, leisurely day together - no pressures, no deadlines, no other commitments challenging that space we had carved out for spending with each other. No diamonds could make me as happy as this gift of shared time with my very dearest friend!
Gift #2: My husband went to the store early in the day to make sure that my friend and I would have food for a good lunch together, set a fire in the wood burner so we would have a cozy room in which to quilt, and then graciously and kindly left us to it....to laugh, and talk, and giggle and sew, with no interference, no demands, no expectations. When my friend left, my husband's comment was to the effect: "I'm glad you had such a good day together - I like to see you enjoy yourself like this." No gold bracelet can mean as much to me as this gift of recognition of the things that are important to ME - by my BFF - my husband of 32 years.
Gift #3: A phone call at the end of the day, from my adult son who lives in another country - a capable adult, a talented professional, a man who called his mom to check in and let her know he had returned from a vacation abroad and was well and happy, and realized that ol' Mom would want to know that, and would want to hear her baby's voice. No gifts of silver could surpass my joy that he loves me and recognizes my motherly need for contact more often than he might need or want.
Now what can I give as my gift to each of these special people tomorrow?
You have already given me a very special gift today. As you said, a day to laugh, talk, quilt, and enjoy each others friendship. What a wonderful day I had too. John is a dear friend to build the fire for us, purchase our lunch and give us time to enjoy our time, a big thank you to him from me. My heart is full of love for the two of you. Thank you Sis!
ReplyDeletePS.... Must be M. heard us talking about moms needing to hear from their adult children :))
ReplyDeleteAwesome. As we grow and learn more and more, we must discover that these kinds of gifts are much more valuable than any other material gift we can give. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's because we learn more that we come to value this type of gift, and not just because we already have so much "stuff" that "stuff" no longer feels like a gift :) Thanks for the feedback Oscar!
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