the flames of friendship ~

it seems so funny to me...how all the people who say they're so busy are so not. and those who really are....don't really look at it that way. perspective. it's all about perspective. and i'm thinking that all the folks who dig in and groove on the busy-ness are the ones who really get it done. you know, like the elves who help the santa man. they don't think about being busy. they just groove along...lovin' what they do and knowin' that it's all for the happy part. groovin' and workin' and doin' it all from the heart. that's what it's all about.

so, i got this package...the one i was so excited about, even tho i didn't know what it was. all i needed to know was who it came from...and it made me so happy. THEN...i go pick up the package and it's all i can do to NOT open it in the truck. had some other stuff to do, so i waited. then...i got home and thought, "hmmmmm. maybe i'll just put it under the tree and wait til next week."

yea. right.

i sat on the floor right next to my tree...and opened that package like it was the last one i'd ever get. ever. i savored the whole ritual...smiling as i did, just knowing that she sent it with her heart. knowing that this lady was sending a piece of her with it. knowing that, for all the distance and the stuff we don't know...she sent it cuz she just cares.

boyhowdy! i had tears runnin' down my face before i even saw the insides. cuz there, on the package, were these photos...and just seeing those beautiful smiles...and that crazy eyebrow...and all the love right there in the light. well. i can tell ya, it took my breath away. it made me take a big giant pause at all the love. it made me question, just for a sec...how i got so lucky to know these folks. i almost didn't want to open them up the rest of the way...cuz i couldn't even imagine how it could get any better. i was wrong. it got way better.

there's somethin' about gifts that come from somebody's hands. the ones that you just know were made with all that they are. even those that came from somebody else's hands. or eyes. photographs and paintings and stuff made out of clay. stuff like that. they seem to hold all that love...even when they get mailed and touched by all kinds of other folks. doesn't diminish...in fact, i think it makes them even more powerful. all those hands touching the package as it goes from here to there.
very cool stuff.

i'm a pretty blessed being. i have so many people who love me so well. added plus? i get to love 'em back. it's not about the gifts...it's about the caring. the thoughts that get put into the whole process. the fact that somebody, far far away, is thinking about you...and they take all that time to do what they do. it could've been a rock. or a napkin with words written on it. or a feather found on a walk. it wouldn't have mattered. what mattered was the THOUGHT. and i can tell ya, this lady has some pretty incredible ones!

thanks, t. thanks for sharing your heart.