Some of my favorite gifts have been small, inexpensive items. On my last birthday, my granddaughter, Brett, sent me a package that contained, among other things, a Whitman College pencil. She is a freshman at Whitman so every time I pick up that pencil I think of her and remember when I visited the campus with her last summer.
About two years ago, my friend, Jenny, attached a leather loop to the handle of my cane. When my hand is through the loop, I can let go of the handle without having the cane fall to the floor. This comes in handy when I’m shopping or if I need to open a door when my other hand is full. Each time the cane dangles from the loop on my wrist, I mentally thank Jenny.
Another friend, Myra, knit me a big orange carrot. It has eyes and green dreadlocks. It hangs from my pencil sharpener and I laugh every time I sharpen a pencil.
The pencil holder on my desk is a coffee mug that looks like tree bark. There’s a yellow smiley face on the front of it. Many years ago, my family went camping on Mother’s Day weekend. My kids were about eight and ten and as we sat around the campfire, cooking our breakfast, they gave me that mug. It was a wonderful Mother’s Day gift and when I look at it I am transported back in time to Deception Pass State Park, and I feel like a young mother again.
My home is filled with small, treasured gifts. They help to make it a home, rather than merely a house.