The Meaning of a Gift

I love giving and receiving gifts...if you have read the book The Five Languages of Love you might recognize that, yup, I am a gift kind of girl and that is the way I mostly feel loved.

You can now imagine how happy I was today when I got to my cubicle and say a pair of earrings wrapped in a Christmas bag. I was delighted - "Yeah, a gift!" I took a closer look at the earrings and I realized that they weren't just any earrings. These earring were handmade by my co-worker and made with beads I have given her. These weren't just any beads...these beads had belonged to a necklace that my great grandmother had owned and then had given it to me about 8 years ago. When I wore the necklace, it broke (probable bc it was 50 or more years old) and I kept all the pieces with the intention of one day making a necklace with the beads. A few months ago, I was cleaning my jewelry bag, I decided that I might never fix the necklace and that my co-worker might probable we able to do something really cool with the beads. So I brought them to her and she was really happy about her new beads.

Little did I know that she would pay it forward and make me beautiful earring out the beads. This is one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. My eyes were filled with tears as I thought of what a beautiful treasurer this was. Something that I could give Elizabeth one day and she can always remember my great grandmother.

I was extremely close to my great grandmother. I could spend hours in her apartment sipping coffee, eating Maria cookies and talking about the "old days". She lived to be 101 before she went to be with the Lord and I have always been grateful for the 27 years we had together.

Thank you Darlene for the meaning gift and making my day even more special. This is what the spirit of the season is all about. Merry Christmas to all! Joy to the World!