Tag Archives: gift

Dec18

worth more.

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try as he might

my colleague was not able to convince anyone

to steal from him

or trade with him

 for this monstrosity of a white elephant gift 

that he randomly chose

at our faculty holiday party

it was as huge as a shield, very heavy, and not the most beautiful

(even said on the back that it was microwaveable,

but would not come anywhere near fitting

into any microwave i’ve ever seen,

and was edged in metal)

but we did laugh about it the entire time

and that is certainly worth something. 

‘the manner of giving is worth more than the gift.’      

-pierre corneille

Mar25

fold.

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i held this gift of a tiny origami star

made from a square of beautiful paper

admiring it in my hand for a time

knowing it will be held in my memory

for a long time to come.

—

“WHEN YOU FOLD A PIECE OF PAPER,

YOU’RE ESSENTIALLY CHANGING THE MEMORY OF THAT PIECE”. 

-ERIC DEMAINE

Dec10

golden.

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feeling grateful

for a wonderful surprise

from two of my friends

who gave me their set of original golden books

something i have always wanted 

since i was a young child.

they knew i would treasure them.

—

“life is always bringing unexpected gifts.”

-mary sarton

Nov27

open it.

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apparently i have a bit of a reputation for opening my gifts early.

how bad is it when my sister thinks

i may get overexcited

and try to intercept a delivery at the post office?

i’m not worried,  she’ll never know…

p.s. if she happens to be reading this,

i’d just like to say for the record 

that it was already a little bit open when i found it.

Jun25

wisdom and kindness.

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what a lovely afternoon spent

with a family whose three daughters

 each of us have taught and loved in our turn over the years

as they gave thanks to all of their teachers

by cooking and serving us an amazing brunch

at a beautiful table

complete with many homemade delights

main courses, sweets, desserts, coffee, and fruit prosecos

dad and daughters prepare our meal

while mom finalizes the drinks and details in the dining room

—

such an amazing and generous gesture

as their last daughter leaves the familiar comfort

of our elementary school

and moves on to her next chapter

in the middle school division

along with her lovely family

who we will miss

and who have taught their daughters

the wisdom of gratitude and kindness.

—

“what wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”

-jean-jacques rousseau

Jan4

amnesty.

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New Year, New You!

Everyone starts fresh in 2018 with all late fees waived.

POOF!

—

what a generous surprise gift from our library! 

another reason why our community loves and supports them. 

 

 

—

“amnesty is as good for those who give it as for those who receive it.

it has the admirable quality of bestowing mercy on both sides. “

-victor hugo

 

Aug19

eclipsed.

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for some reason

in anticipation of the upcoming solar eclipse 

i decided that it would be a great time

to make 120 ‘solar eclipse’ cookies.

the plan was to give them to 3 different groups of people

who i would see this weekend

the recipe looked quite easy

and fitting in with the spirit of the big day

the idea was to add the sun yellow and moon chocolate icings

to the perfect moon shapes

increasing the dark moon coverage on each one

showing all of the phases of the eclipse

during the process

 smoke and grease and sugar and cocoa and lemon

filled the kitchen

it took hours

the outcome was not quite as i expected

i’m not sure what exactly went wrong

but i am sure there were lots of things that did

the end result was best described by

steve carell while in character on ‘the office’ –

“it looks like it was put together by baby monkeys living on a farm.”


i’m going to embrace that and take it as a compliment 

i know that the eclipse makes lots of things go a bit off kilter

and i can’t wait to see how excited everyone is

to receive this very special gift from me. 

—

“there’s a victory in letting go of your expectations.”
-mike white

Jun26

give what you have.

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found this sweet surprise

waiting for me in my mailbox

a very old tiny sleigh with a handwritten letter

from a neighbor i’ve never met

who’s lived nearby for over 50 years

she left it for me to add to my fairy garden

when the season is right

she took the trouble to repaint the sleigh

and write me this lovely note

wanting to visit the garden

but too shy to stop by to see it up close

it was such a kind and thoughtful gesture

i wanted to thank her and figured out where she lived

then wrote her a long letter back

to let her know

how much i enjoyed her special gift

and what it meant to me

i really hope that we meet in person in my garden one day.

—

“give what you have. to someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
― henry wadsworth longfellow