Yesterday I was reminded by someone who knows me really well of how very blessed I am to have good friends ... who love me. I know that. Of course, it never hurts to be reminded every now and again.
The coolness of my friends is reflected in the very special gifts I have been receiving this holiday season. One of the first gifts I received was a rock paperweight thingy with the message:
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down.
And then there was the very fun ... very SMALL ... t-shirt that arrived in the mail from an out-of-town friend. The image of the icky ole witch being crushed by the Ho Ho Ho's ... is so very MJ ... it's perfect!
Abbi, who knows me best of all, showed up on Christmas Eve with a handfull of tree-shaped pine-scented air freshners that she hung throughout the branches of my humongous artifiical tree so that on Christmas morning when we all got up to open gifts ... the tree would smell ... REAL!
... I really loved that!
It's awesome to receive things ... even the simplest of things ... from someone who really knows you ... and goes out of the way to give you something ... chosen especially for ... you!
Beautiful candles on a handcrafted tray ... exactly the same cinnamony color as my kitchen ... made up another special gift from a friend who has known me for at least two lifetimes. The gift was thoughtful & lovely ... but it was the boxes that captured my imagination. Printed on the outside of each one was the name of the studio of the artist who designed the piece as well as the message:
Be A Part of "THE STORY"
I went to the website to find out what the tag line was all about ... to explain why that was printed across the front of the box ... nothing was there.
And it wasn't just one box ... the candles were in a box that said "Be A Part of THE STORY" ... and the tray was in a box that said "Be A Part of THE STORY" ... It's as if the artist knew me ... personally. Seriously. I am all about the stories!
No doubt the message was there ... just for me!
People have been giving me angels since the day I was born. My dad called me "Angelfluff" throughout my childhood. Gifts have come from my Mimi and my Mother addressed to "my lil angel" and "my angel" all of my life. Abbi & I have exchanged angels for most of her life, too.This year, there were three special angels.
One from Abbi. A beautiful creature with red hair and a handful of stars ... it's an all-year-round angel ... she will sit out somewhere special to remind me every day ... to dream big ... to reach for the stars!
There were two cards inside of the box with the next one ...
I hope this piece has
personal meaning for you
... a little reminder ... a reflection ...
a gesture that marks a memory ...
Gosh, there was no way I wouldn't be liking a gift that came with a note like that in the top of the box! And inside, was a beautiful Willow Tree Angel.
Arms spread wide ... her name is Happiness ... free to sing, laugh, dance ... create!
And the personal, handwritten note from my friend ... that so touched my heart ....
To: Mary Jane
... for showing me how to choose happy!
Wow! It's always wonderful to discover that a little bit of difference was made in a friend's life by something I say or do!
My last angel was a totally random gift. I know that because when the gift was offered up, the giver said from across the room...."You're going to laugh when you see what it is ..."
The box was really terrific. It was triangle shaped and was one of those gift boxes that's got a pre-printed design on it. This one was an abstract pattern with mauves, tans & grays running together. Very interesting.
I LOVE fun boxes. People who really know me know that often I get more excited over an unusual box than what's inside. So I was "ooohing" and "aaahing" over the box when the disclaimer came out-of-the-blue.
Gently I lifted the lid.
Wrapped in tissue was an exquisite crystal ball with a crystal angel inside.
It took my breath away.
Crystal things have always been my most favorite things. Aunt Julia started giving me pieces of crystal when I was about 13. Somehow along the way, most of those pieces have been packed away as we moved from one place to another and have never been unpacked here. I am going to find those things once I am done taking the Christmas things down.
That's a lost part of MJ that I am ready to unwrap ... & re-discover ...
The giver of the gift made another comment from across the room ... about the irony of it ... seems she had observed another gift being opened in our midst that she thought had been given by me ... a crystal angel ... only it wasn't ... from me.
Stunned. How is it possible that this person ...who has known me for most of my adult life ... really doesn't have a clue ... about me? About this gift?
It wasn't actually a snow globe. Instead of shaking it up to see the snowflakes fall .. it had a switch on the bottom. Push the button ... and presto ... a fiber optic light show plays out inside the globe. Brilliant, jewel tone colors flash randomly ... bathing the little angel ... in a kaleidoscope of colors ... a rainbow inside of a crystal ball ..
The tears came. I simply couldn't help myself. I was totally caught off guard ... and was immediately overwhelmed ... then the whisper came ... it's too personal to share ...
... it was of very great significance ...
Now I know ... without a doubt ... that I am somehow getting it right ... the moving towards the life I want to be living ...
It would have been different, I guess ... if the giver had really thought ... really known ... how special the gift in the nifty box really was going to be ... to me. But ... that person ... didn't get it ... so there's no doubt who was behind the gift ... my Best Friend ... making His presence known ... once again.
Cool. So very cool.
Yes. I am blessed by friends & family who love me. My gifts this year reflect those intimate connections.
Of course, my true Christmas wish ... made a year ago... for a little bit of magic ... to be found at some unexpected time during the year that is now ending ... remains elusive. It's not something that someone can wrap up in a box ... and put under my tree ...
However, tucked way down in the toe of my stocking ... wrapped in some very old, yellowed tissue paper ... were a pair of ruby slippers ... ceramic ... salt & pepper shakers ... with a collector type stamp on the bottom ... they aren't bejeweled or sparkly ... ruby-colored, though & totally functional ...
Neither of the elves in my house who might have participated in the stuffing of my stocking had any knowledge of their origin.
I know ... you are thinking ... one of them must have been responsible for the neat little gift ...
The one elf isn't capable of keeping a secret of that nature ... and the other one was as totally surprised as I was at my discovery ... so I am positive that she wasn't responsible for the surprise ... either ...
... a little bit of magic ...
I'm sure there's a message there ... in the ruby slippers ...
in all of my other gifts ...
The Wizard of Oz has always been one of my favorite stories ... so I went looking for something other than the obvious
"there's no place like home" meaning ...
I was pretty sure that I had vivid & accurate recollection of all of the memorable lines ... imagine my surprise when I visited the AMC Classic Film website and found this descriptive passage ...
She (Glenda) descends to the ground in her familiar,
shimmering, rainbow-hued bubble from the sky.
Glinda steps out of the ball of light and kindly tells Dorothy that
she has always had the power to go home
with the magical power of her ruby slippers,
but she had to discover it for herself.
Dorothy: Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?
Glinda: You don't need to be helped any longer.
You've always had the power to go back to Kansas.
Dorothy: I have?
Scarecrow: Then why didn't you tell her before?
Glinda: Because she wouldn't have believed me.
She had to learn it for herself.
Dorothy insightfully explains what she has learned from her experience -
during her dream of being in Oz.
In a self-revelation, she realizes that everything she could ever have wanted was right in her own backyard -
IF she had wanted it hard enough. She relinquishes the miracle-working power of the Wizard - he has floated away -
and relies upon her own power and personality
to find her independent identity and way home.
She has confronted her childhood fears and grown up emotionally
with strength enough to meet her adult future.
In some ways, the journey was as rewarding
as the accomplishment of her goal.
Dorothy: Well, I think that it, that it wasn't enough just to want to see
Uncle Henry and Auntie Em,
and it's that if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again,
I won't look any further than my own backyard because, if it isn't there,
I never really lost it to begin with. Is that right?
Glinda: That's all it is!
Scarecrow: But that's so easy! I should've thought of it for you -
Tin Man: I should have felt it in my heart -
Glinda: No, she had to find it out for herself. Now those magic slippers will take you home in two seconds!
Dorothy: Oh! Toto too?
Glinda: Toto too.
Dorothy: Now?
Glinda: Whenever you wish!
Everyone who knows me ... knows that I don't believe in coincidences ...
Dorothy found her way ... home ...
,,, with a little help from her friends ... & so will I ..
,,, with a little help from her friends ... & so will I ..
Take a look again at my very special gifts ... follow the yellow brick road ...
Be a part of the story ... a personal meaning just for me ... ruby slippers ...
a crystal globe full of rainbow colors ...
choose happy ... reach for the stars ...
I just had to learn it for myself ...
my heart's desire ...
whenever I wish ...
Three days left ... until the new year begins ...
... there's still time ... for a little bit of magic ...
I believe!
(c) December 2010
Beautiful thoughts, beautifully written. Magic!
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