a non-birthday gift

My sister Dede and I share the same birthday month.  Our mom and dad are great about remembering and arranging some sort of celebration.  We had that Saturday.  We gathered at our house for dinner.  Dede and her family brought a Wii so the kids could play Just Dance 2.  The adults talked...and talked...and watched YouTube videos on the AppleTv. We had agreed a few months ago to make birthdays more low key and not to exchange gifts.  I was shopping at JCrew the night before and found a sweater that would be perfect for Dede.  As she was leaving I gave her the "non-birthday gift."  I was walking with Dede toward the door for her first load to the car when she casually pointed to a box sitting by the door and said, "There is your 'non-birthday gift.'"  I picked it up.  It was so heavy I thought it must be food storage.  I opened the box and saw a family treasure.

Before a move, my mom was going through all of their possessions.  She decided to give us some of her treasures--- I received her grandmother's silver, Annie received the china, and Dede received the Little Colonel books.  These books originally belonged to my great aunt.  My mom had read them to us---and we loved it.  We loved the stories and they were more dear knowing where they had come from and the memories attached to our mom reading them to us.  Dede said, "I know you will read them to your girls."  (Dede has four wonderful sons.)  I was so touched by her gift.  She has always been one of the most generous people I know.  She has inherited that quality from our dad- who I believe inherited from his mom (Granny).  I have a lot to learn from them. xoxo