My youngest sister gives amazing gifts. Being the oldest sibling in our trio, it is, of course, my job to tease her mercilessly and draw unwelcome attention to her remarkable skill. Things like…
“Jane wins Christmas again.”
“What did you whittle for us this year?”
“Been creating original artwork again?”
“Craft much?”
She is an artist with a sensitive soul and a big ole’ heart, so she doesn’t mind too much. She knows it’s all in good fun. Every gift she gives is thoughtful, heartfelt and earnest. Some of her greatest hits include:
- A concrete statue of a Collie for my grandmother. My grandmother had a very loyal Collie named Lucy for a number of years, so this was a clear play on the heartstrings.
- A motion-activated trail camera for my dad who had just expressed some concern at Thanksgiving about hunters ignoring his “No Trespassing” signs in the woods. This man is hard to shop for, and this was the perfect, practical gift.
- A number of unique and interesting antique store finds.
- Beautiful textiles and hand made items from countries around the world.
- Original artwork.
You get the point. This year I fell victim to her charms and it is the catalyst for even starting this blog.
Every Thanksgiving, we sisters, and our husbands draw names for Christmas gifts. This year, Jane got me. A few days after Christmas, when the Inman side of the family converged at grandma’s house, we were following our standard and very disciplined practice of opening one gift at a time as determined by birth order, when it happened.
I had two packages to unwrap from Jane, a small gift bag that contained a wine tasting journal (she’s observant) and a very cool black stainless steel water bottle, and a larger, bulkier gift bag. It is unlike Jane to even use a gift bag, so I was curious. I pulled out the tissue paper and started to lift out what appeared to be a decorative pillow. It was an unusual choice for her and I thought for half a second that her gift game may be slipping. Then I saw it. The pillow had the giant face of a Shih Tzu artistically printed on it.
I have been told by others in the room, that the look on my face was priceless. Rumor has it that there may even have been a joyful squeal. I damn near cried. She had done it again. What you may not know about me, is that I have two little Shih Tzus and I’m crazy about them. If you want me to like you, you better love my dogs.
She told me later that she ordered the pillow on Amazon and that she had just googled “Shih Tzu gifts.” She didn’t spend hours painting an original piece of Shih Tzu artwork just for me, but that doesn’t matter. Jane is an amazing gift giver because she pays attention to the little things, she is a good listener, she invests wholeheartedly in the relationships that matter to her and she is incredibly thoughtful. She doesn’t buy a gift for an occasion, she probably buys gifts all year long and just waits for the occasion. When she is out and about shopping, she is thinking about other people.
As I sit on the bed in the guest bedroom typing, my pups are snoozing next to me and I’m looking at this pillow. I’ve given some pretty good gifts in my day, but I want to give like Jane. I want to induce joyful moments. I want to be a better listener, pay better attention to the little things and be a better friend. If I can make those improvements, I might just up my gift game a little bit.
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