My favorite gift

(Please read the entire post!!)

When I had Colton, my very favorite gifts were two home made blankets, sewn with love by my great friend (and co worker) up in Minnesota, Kathy "Wippy" Wipperling. Colton has slept with those blankets every single night of his life (except when he spends the nights with Granny or Tia Leah). As an infant, they were the PERFECT size for me to stumble through that mysterious art of swaddling.. only with those two blankets could I master it. In fact, on my to do list is to email Wippy and ask if I send her more fabric, can she make me a few more! I am worried that these will wear thin and I ... I mean, Colton.. would be devestated. (note to self, send email soon).

I think I am just blessed with amazing co workers :) I work with a wonderful lady named Jenny. When she first started, I remember thinking "oh my, I hope everyone is nice to Jenny, she seems so quiet and introverted".. WRONG first impression.. She can take care of herself.. she is witty and always quick with a comeback. She is a defender of the underdog, in a very vocal way. On days where I am down or tired, Jenny is always the one to sense that and just offer a kind word or hug.. we are constantly battling back and forth with sarcasm and pretend personal attacks.. but she is such a good friend. I have probably shared more with her about my state of mind, especially regarding the loss of Josh, than I have shared with anyone else. She is just that type of friend, the one who you feel so comfortable letting your true emotions show... and did I say brilliant.. she is super uber smart...

Well, Jenny loves to write.. it is her passion.. and she came to me today and was acting very... well, strange.. she kind of threw this paper at me and said "I wrote this for Camden.. but i feel like a dork" and basically ran out the door.

As I started to read, I could not stop my eyes as they filled with tears.. it is the most BEAUTIFUL story/gift I have ever read.. I just was so moved and can't believe the gift Jenny has with words and the fact that she shared that with me for Camden...

Enjoy:

Gifts
By Jenny Keegan

Princes in the stories never seem to get the extravagant gifts
that princesses do.

You don’t hear about fairy godmothers
handing out gifts at boys’ christenings,
of beauty and charm, grace and wit and musical aptitude.
(So that they can sing to their babies, some day,
without necessarily making them cry.)
Not even slightly more useful things:
He will have an uncanny aptitude for finding girls
based on the size of their glass slippers.

I would give him gifts, if I could.

Buckets full of tears, cried by someone else on his behalf,
every drop a coin, to pay for something,
knowledge, or wisdom –
(What did we buy with our tears?)
Knowledge, or wisdom. Something like that.
He will learn what we have learned,
and he will never have to pay the price we paid.

Novelty, to keep forever.
The world will not age with him. Every time he bites into a strawberry,
it will be his first bite.
Each river will be his first river, each sunrise his first sunrise.
He will always see as a child sees,
a brave new world,
wonder and glory.

The gift of battles won.
Water to pour on witches,
an ax for inconveniently placed beanstalks and wolves in flannel nightgowns,
a sword for slaying dragons,
courage and rightness of purpose.
He will not be defeated
by thorns or monsters, or by the fears of his own heart.

But when all’s said and done,
(I say it as a blessing
and you give it as a gift)
the gift you give him every day is this:
He will be loved.
He will live his life in the certainty of your love.