Great Gift Givers

So here it is the season of giving and I am so aware of the really great gift givers in my life. My daughter is able to come up with exceptionally perfect things. I am thinking of the book she made for me several years ago, a collection of pictures and written memories...a history of our relationship. Immediately, it was one of my favorite things.

My brother, Stanley, recently gifted me with a surprise that brought tears to my eyes and became another highly cherished item. The gift came by Fed Ex after a camping trip we took together at the end of this past summer.

It was my idea to go camping. I love the sound of bird song when I wake up in a sleeping bag, separated from the earth and the furry creatures only by the canvas walls of a tent. I love the smell of bacon frying over a fire outside. I like the taste of coffee from a tin cup. I like the outdoor feeling that insists there is no place I have to be, no task that must be done other than to sit, eat, drink, and appreciate the beauty of nature. I am where I belong-- wearing flannel and seated by a fire.

My brother is the perfect camping companion. He is strong. He has a pick up truck big enough to hold everything we needed and some stuff I just wanted to bring along. He is very informed about the outside world and the creatures who live there. These are essential qualities for a camping friend. Stanley is good natured when putting down tent stakes, dragging branches to the camp site for firewood and unloading heavy coolers of ice and food. He saw to it that we had a crackling fire for our three days and nights in the woods. He brought a row boat. And he enjoys aimless, quiet hikes in the woods as much as I do.

It had recently rained when we arrived at our destination. We made sandwiches and sat under a pavilion to eat. We told each other stories, reminding each other of our childhood days and our turbulent teenage struggles. Before I finished my sandwich I realized what a treasure this camping trip was going to be.

We rowed Stanley's boat out on the lake and saw a beaver hard at work in the water. A great blue heron stood like a tree at the water's edge and waited for food to swim by his motionless feet. We saw a river rat swimming through a cove thick with lily pads. We walked in the woods and startled raccoons who ran to get out of our way. We saw so many deer we lost count. We drove over to a buffalo sanctuary and stared at the great beasts in the field, imagining what life was like when Native Americans depended on them for so many daily necessities. A gray fox visited our campsite each evening just after darkness settled in outside the light of our fire.

We both collected rocks and pieces of drift wood, art pieces from nature to add to the beauty of our back yards at home. One particular piece of drift wood caught our attention at the same time. It was lovely, about a foot long and four inches wide. The water had carved a circular pattern in its center. The piece spoke to me of peacefulness and connections. I wanted it. But Stanley insisted that it belonged to him. "You may have seen it first, but I picked it up." The matter was settled.

Neither one of us wanted the camping trip to end. We packed up and Stanley drove slowly out of the forest and toward civilization. We stopped to eat one more meal outside-- at a roadside picnic area. Funny. The two of us shared the same bedroom until I was eleven years old. He is only one year older than I am. In so many ways we are like twins. Much is said between us without a word being spoken.

We returned to our homes, our partners and our work lives. A few days went by. I heard the Fed Ex truck squeal to a stop out front. A package was dropped on the porch. It was from Stanley. What had I left in his truck? I opened the package and gasped at what I saw. It was the lovely piece of drift wood, the piece I had tried to claim. Stanley had taken it home and had carved into it images of the great blue heron, the buffalo and the little gray fox. They stared out at me from the piece of smooth wood in my hand. Peaceful connections, memory keepers, straight from our natural surroundings.

There are some great gift givers in my life. People who know how to give gifts that connect the most significant dots. Makes me glad to be alive. And makes me more aware, looking around to see what I might give that would mean as much for someone I love.