Thanksgiving Day! Is this not the best holiday ever? Such amazing food, we get to be with family- cozy, wintery days!
Quote of the Day: “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Today, Joe and I ran/walked 7.72 miles. We left a car at Joe’s Mom’s house in Millcreek and so we were able to run there and pick it up. It’s so great to spot a car so you don’t have to retrace your steps and my house is almost always uphill coming back. It was warm, about 44 degrees when we started, overcast, with little wind. I love running on a holiday- so few cars and lots of people out exercising. We really could have been in shorts. I am getting a little stronger but it’s slow going. That’s ok as long as I can run a little further every day! I am so grateful for legs that want to take me places. There is no seeing the neighborhood like on foot. You notice all these details you don’t see while riding in your car.
Last night, Nate and Mary had a family birthday party for Maggie. She will be 4 on Friday. I watched her yesterday, thinking how tall she is getting. She was wearing these cute corduroy pants and she just looked so grown up in them. Mary and Nate have taught her to be so polite. She was really darling when opening gifts, she would run over and thank the person responsible for the gift, and give them a hug. She received the perfect gift from her grandmother, Rosemary. It was a musical jewelry box with a ballerina that twirled around. You’ve all seen them but as I watched Maggie, it was brilliant. It was the perfect gift for her at this age. There is a small mirror behind the dancer and Maggie kept watching her go around and around and her own image could be seen in the mirror.
I thought back on all the “perfect” gifts I’ve received and given. I wish I could say I had given more “perfect” gifts, because I think it takes a great gift giver to really understand what another person would get excited about. I heard a friend speak once about gift giving and she said that we should know someone well enough, that we know what they would want in a gift. She was talking to a group of young girls about their moms. She said to them: “Shame on you if you say: ‘I don’t know what to give my mom’. You should know your mom well enough to know what she wants.” That struck a cord with me because I realized that you have to really know and understand the person you are giving a gift to. Perhaps it takes some time to be with that person, talking to them, understanding their needs to know what they want. I usually want to give them something I think they would like or something I would like or for ease sake, just something. Sometimes, you buy the perfect gift and you don’t really realize it like the time Joe picked out 3 large acorns in a basket to give to his mom, Irene. I remember thinking, ok, if that’s what you want to give her. I was skeptical but he was pretty confident about his gift. She loved them, and this is from the woman who when we bought her a small, new suitcase on wheels so that she wouldn’t have to travel with a duffle-bag, threw it to the bottom of the stairs. We went over a few days after Christmas, and there is was, in the position it landed in after tumbling down a set of stairs. Now, I have to explain this. Today is Irene’s birthday, she is 86 years old, in great health, sharp as a tack and she was perfectly happy with her duffle-bag. She uses it to this day- we definitely picked the wrong gift for her. I wonder where that suitcase is.
When I think about “perfect” gift giving, I think of my 3rd grade Christmas. I walked into our living room that Christmas morning and the presents were all wrapped in silver. The morning light coming through our big window made the gifts shine and then I saw it. There was a Barbie case that was opened with Barbie cloths hanging on miniature hangers. I knew immediately that the gift was for me. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the clothes were, and what a variety, day wear, evening wear. I will never forget how that made me feel. It wasn’t until years later, that I saw some of the same fabric in my mom’s sewing boxes that I really thought about her sewing all those outfits for my Barbie so that I could enjoy playing with them. She must have worked nights while I slept. I’m glad that she can read my blog, so she will know how much I loved that gift and how much it meant to me that she worked so hard to make Christmas special. I am so luckily to have such a wonderful mom!
Maggie and “Jewel” from Rio. Mary makes the most amazing cakes each year!
Joe’s Mom- Eleanor Irene McCarthy Daily
No comments yet.