P is for Package

Dear PH,
Why on earth am I writing you a thank you note in my blog?
Well, for one thing, I hope it surprises you when you see it, and makes you smile, the way you surprised me with a smile today.
For another, I want to let everyone who reads this know how powerful it is to get a special surprise from someone you treasure. Thank you so much for being my friend, P.
Today when I got home, I dragged through the door, hauling two heavy bags of kid stuff and the mail that I snatched from the box just before my kids closed the front door on my arm. It had been another rough one. Then among the bills and catalogs I saw your package. I tore it open before I even set down all the detritus of the day.
Well, first of all, your gift is so adorable that just looking at it made me smile right away. And of course instantly I knew you made it, and thinking about that my eyes went right toward the quilt you gave us when we got married. You meant it as a picnic blanket, but for us it's an everything blanket. Every time I'm sick, it's the first thing I want. When it's cozy cuddle up time with the kids, that quilt is always shared among us. The kids feel it -- that blanket is love. I must fold it a hundred times each week.

Now I have my special pillow case you made me. The kids, of course, made a grab for it, but I was faster... this one, I told them, is MINE!
Then, I read your note. Well, I read it about six times. I read it aloud to J, and of course my voice cracked all over the place and I had to wipe my eyes. I don't know which part makes me feel more special and appreciative -- that your gift to me was the first thing you made on your quilting weekend, or that you said you made it just to make me smile.

P, I hate that we live so far apart, and that your kids and I don't know each other. But I treasure knowing that distance doesn't change the connection I feel to you.

I get sad and lonely over here, but it helps to know you are out there and you care about me. I love you, and I miss you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the world's happiest froggy pillow case. How could anyone ever curl up with it and not feel comforted?

I wish I had a talent; I'd make you something special, too.
I send you lots and lots of love.
G