Best Present!

Scotch-Brite sponges and an OXO vegetable peeler may not get YOUR blood pumping but, in this instance, they amount to the nicest gifts I've received in a long time, arriving yesterday by mail from Jen and Chris.

Why is this an awesome gift? Because I'd mentioned to Jen, in passing, that good sponges are hard to find here. And in the course of their visit our veggie peeler went missing and all Scott could find at the kitchen store was one of those dreadful old fashioned aluminum ones; I had expressed surprise that they didn't carry better brands, like OXO.

These were unglamorous blips in a week's worth of conversations and activities which I quickly forgot but Jen filed away.

When I opened the package I was tickled. How thoughtful that she'd actually remembered these things!

And that's the essence of a good gift, whether it's a package of sponges or something more exotic. The object doesn't matter--the real gift, as far as I'm concerned, is the giver being attuned to the recipient. What a nice feeling.