The Rarest Gift
rare marked by unusual quality, merit, or appeal
kaleidoscope a variegated changing pattern or scene
There are many occasions on which gifts are exchanged, expected, or simply given: birthdays, weddings, certain holidays, and other life events. The memories of these form a kaleidoscope of colored paper and ribbons, sparkles and glitter, bright floral tributes, and cheerful balloons.
The rarest gift comes quietly and often does not immediately identify itself. It is not until later that its value is recognized: that old vase thrown out by Aunt M. and rescued from the trash turns out to be an antique.
Another would be a recording of musical selections taped from 78s, LPs, and other miscellaneous sources - a rare and meaningful compilation given by a person well aware of its historical value.
And then there are the offhand presents freely given as a result of moving to smaller quarters or a change in lifestyle, finding no room for them and passing them on to others.
These kinds of rarities are never wrapped as gifts nor are they designated as such. Strangely enough, these ad hoc gifts are often remembered longest.
Is there such an item in your house? Have you ever received something from a person unaware of having given it? Is there something in your house that reminds you of a person or friend, long gone but the gift remains?
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote
kaleidoscope a variegated changing pattern or scene
There are many occasions on which gifts are exchanged, expected, or simply given: birthdays, weddings, certain holidays, and other life events. The memories of these form a kaleidoscope of colored paper and ribbons, sparkles and glitter, bright floral tributes, and cheerful balloons.
The rarest gift comes quietly and often does not immediately identify itself. It is not until later that its value is recognized: that old vase thrown out by Aunt M. and rescued from the trash turns out to be an antique.
Another would be a recording of musical selections taped from 78s, LPs, and other miscellaneous sources - a rare and meaningful compilation given by a person well aware of its historical value.
And then there are the offhand presents freely given as a result of moving to smaller quarters or a change in lifestyle, finding no room for them and passing them on to others.
These kinds of rarities are never wrapped as gifts nor are they designated as such. Strangely enough, these ad hoc gifts are often remembered longest.
Is there such an item in your house? Have you ever received something from a person unaware of having given it? Is there something in your house that reminds you of a person or friend, long gone but the gift remains?
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote
I am in the habit of looking not so much to the nature of the gift as to the spirit in which it is offered.
posted by marguerite louise at
3:34 PM
3 Comments:
During WWII, my parents were stationed in Alaska. My mom was so depressed by the snowy climate that my Gram sent her an envelope of seeds from some garden flowers she had hybridized for unusual colors and advice to plant them in small pots, put them in a sunny window and think of home.
Mom never got around to it and, somehow, the envelope made it back home and was mixed in with a thick pile of old love letters in her hope chest. In the early 60s, she cleaned out the chest and there the were dried-up, miserable-looking little things. I took them to our neighbors who were researchers at the Ohio Ag R&D center and asked if there was any hope they might grow. They said there was no chance, but to be nice, they gave me some tips and a few supplies they were experimenting with in the lab.
Amazingly, some of those decrepit little seeds sprouted, grew and bloomed. We said nothing about this to my Gram and when she drove across 3 states to visit, the first thing she saw when she pulled in our driveway was a planter with the unmistakably weird-colored offspring of her 20 year-old seed gift.
I don't know anything about flowers, but I think this is pretty unusual for elderly seeds. Wonder what was in the experimental potion??
By
Anonymous, at 8/02/2005 3:55 PM
Sharon, what a perfect example of a rare gift. Surely there are more little stories like that out there in bloggerland!
By
marguerite louise, at 8/02/2005 9:51 PM
Some of you may wonder why rare gifts would have anything at all to do with the Arts and Sciences. The questions you will always find at the end of my essays are meant to make you think, whether or not you express yourself in a comment. It is called "The Socratic Method" after the great Greek philosopher, Socrates, who used questions to teach and to elicit answers from his students.
By
marguerite louise, at 8/02/2005 9:57 PM
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