Special People

There are tokens of love all around us. Sometimes it's a book mark that we transfer from book to book, it came from that special friend on a special day. It might be the black and white photograph of a box of chocolates from a college buddy, or the candy jar from Grandma.

Yesterday, my beloved and I received one such gift that will always remind us of a very special Christmas and the very special family we had the joy of playing Santa for. On Christmas Eve, we delivered gifts to our friend's household while they were off to Christmas Eve service at their church. In each gift, the girls received their annual pair of pajamas, and, even though the girls are grown, my friend wanted to carry on the tradition and add to it some mystery...how did those packages appear?! Well, her girls still thought she put them on their beds, even though she was with them the whole time. (mom's are that amazing, I completely understand why they believed she did it herself!)

This same dear friend made a trip to Sweden in 2010 and, while there, visited Orrefors Sweden, a company whose artists create beautiful glass works. She brought us the round candle holder shown here. When we brought it home, I immediately went to get a candle holder that was given to us as a wedding gift from Paul's Aunt and Uncle. Much to our surprise, it came from the same...and there the seal, "Orrefors Sweden", right on it's side. I burned them both all day today, in celebration of all the beautiful and wonderful souls that come into our lives and leave little tokens of love that bring us a sense of connectedness and warmth. It is the people, however, not the tokens, that make us truly rich.