I had to do the laundry today and I
got to thinking about gifts – both those I have given and received.
Doing the laundry and giving or receiving gifts really don't have a lot
in common, but I don't have a washer and dryer so I have to hit the
laundry matt, and the laundry matt requires coins -- lots of them.
Anyway . . hang with
me. . . for a moment.
Do you remember some of the favorite
gifts you either gave or received over the years?
I am sure you all have a favorite article of clothing, a book, or
something for your hobby you received. We know mothers (and fathers to a
lesser extent) have all received that ‘cute’, ‘strangely
adorable’, awww-inspiring, tear-jerking gift along the way.
I guess all of us have reciprocated
in some way at some point. There is a special feeling when you seek out
and find a perfect gift for the special people in your life. It is even
more special to see their faces light up when they open the gift.
Over the years I got the reputation
within family ranks as the “weird gift giver”, especially at
Christmas. I did my best to find something that was not just out of the
ordinary, but also, something that identified the personality of the
person receiving the gift. Many times I succeeded. Just as many I did
not. Most families look forward to the family members who live far away
and get home only for holidays. Not mine, at least not at Christmas.
Today I give many photos as gifts.
It is a dangerous proposition as “a great photo” is so subjective.
We all have our own tastes in such things. But, I try and pick a photo
that meets the recipient’s persona and hope for the best. I feel very
proud and happy when I see the photos I gave as gifts displayed in
someone’s home, preferably in the home of the person I gave it to.
So, what does all this have to do
with the laundry? Well, I needed quarters for the laundry machines. The
bin I keep quarters in had a few, but I needed three or four more. Thus,
I began to rummage through desk draws, my car, and all the nooks and
crannies at home. Finding only two in this first round of searching,
round two began.
In round two I started to sift
through all my change bin, of which I have many. Most of them contain
dimes, nickels, and pennies. It’s the pennies that made me start to
think of gifts.
When my friend Jennifer turned 30, I
gave her a hand made card with a big ‘30’ in the center. The numbers
were laid out in pennies – one from each of the years she had lived.
Now, if you think this is an easy
task, you’re not thinking too clearly. Just try and find 30 of anything
with consecutive dates! I started to collect the pennies at least
four months before her birthday. Whenever I had a nickel of change
coming back, I asked for pennies. I picked up and examined every penny I
saw on the street and searched through every penny jar my friends and
relatives had.
While most of the years came easy,
year two and three of her life seem not to exist. Persistence paid off
though, and about a week prior to her birthday I found all the pennies,
made the card, and mailed it out to her in time for her big ‘3’
‘0h’ day.
She was impressed to say the least.
There is no question that is probably the best gift I ever gave – I
had so much frustration and fun putting it all together. I hope Jenny
remembers just as fondly.
Jennifer also gave me the best gift
I ever received. It was a box of leaves. Now before you go off wondering
here, yes, there is significance to it. We both love the fall. It is my
favorite season (though, her’s is tulip time and she love the 'tweener'
months of March - my birth month, and November). One fall day she went
on a little walk around her hometown of Fredericksburg, VA picking up
leaves. Not just any leaves mind you, she picked up at least one leaf
from every type of tree in the town.
When I opened the box and saw and
smelled the leaves, I smiled like my favorite wish had just come true. I
laughed till I cried. She sent it to the fraternity house at college and
my fraternity brothers, who already wondered how this strange
Connecticut Yankee got into their mists in Virginia, seemed ready to
black ball me and kick me out of the house. When they saw me on
the floor in hysterics they shook their heads and cut me off from the
keg we always had on tap.
The gift of the leaves was fun and
special in itself. When I found out the thought that went into it and
the fact she found leaves from every type of tree, it made
it more than just special. She just didn’t give me a box that made me
smile, but included within that box was a part of her spirit and soul
she chose to share with me.
Two or three years later I tried to
get her to visit me in Connecticut. We never could manage our schedules.
So, if she couldn’t come to New England for the fall I would send her
a New England Autumn. I copied her uniqueness and sent her a box of
leaves, some from each New England state.
My 16-hour trek began before the sun
had crept over the Long Island Sound horizon on a late October morning.
I raced north though Connecticut and Massachusetts, stopping in Hartford
at the Mark Twain House to get my Connecticut leaves and on the
Mohegan Trail to get my Massachusetts color. I followed the Connecticut
River north into Vermont stopping in Brattleboro. I
hung a right and crossed the river into New Hampshire and sped toward
Concord. Late afternoon brought Ogunquit, Maine, and a trip south on
I-95 and on into and through Boston. The sun was heading below the
horizon as I made an early evening stop in Providence, Rhode
Island before heading west back to Connecticut.
The sun had long since said goodnight to me when I
pulled into the driveway at home. The only thing on my tired delirious
mind was the play, A Chorus Line and the song, “What I did
for love.”
Well,
my search through the change bins yielded my much-needed quarters. But,
the laundry will have to wait. I just looked and saw I don’t have any laundry
detergent.
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