The Greatest Gifts

The last time I recall being totally overcome with emotion upon receiving a Christmas gift was a few years ago when my girlfriend Elissa gave me a framed photograph of the two of us. The photo was taken in 1977 the day we returned from our European trip. We both donned Dorothy Hamel haircuts. The frame said forever faithful… friends.  I was overcome---the sentiment—the thoughtfulness---the purity of the intent---all touched my heart.

Christmas morning my children and husband chose me to kick off the opening of the gifts. I thought it was out of pity. On December 22^rd I had cut my hand on some broken crystal and received 5 stitches on the palm of my left hand. The injured hand was useless for all practical purposes (hence no blog posts).  But I was not chosen to open my gifts first out of pity. It was because I was about to receive a special gift from my husband.

The box appeared not to have been wrapped by a professional wrapper—that added to the charm. I knew my husband had done the wrapping all by himself. And when I opened the box—which was quite heavy—I saw that there was a hardcover book inside. The title was Thoughts from Karenland Volume 1.

My husband had taken all my blog posts and created my first publication. And that is when I lost it.

It finally clicked that I had created something real. I was an author. I had written a book. It was something I could touch. My mind had value and I owned it completely. The tears flowed. My husband accomplished what I would never have taken the time or had the patience to do myself. He gifted me: myself.

And as I flipped through the pages I was incredulous that all those words had fallen out of my head. There were so many of them! It was surreal. It had taken my husband hours and hours to put the book together--probably longer than it had taken me to write it. And despite the fact that the editing wasn’t perfect nor did I have a contract from Simon and Schuster it was perfect to me. It was a hardcover bound book and my name was on the cover. I had a copyright. A dream was realized. I had worth.

The greatest gifts always take your breath away—they connect your heart to someone else’s. You find yourself exalted and taken to a place higher than your legs could ever carry you. It hardly ever is the thing itself generating the joy. It is almost always the intention behind it--just like a prayer.