Wrapped Gifts

Last week was my Grandmother's 91st birthday. My uncle had a birthday dinner for her and invited everyone that could come to come over. For the last several years I have just bought my Grandmother a card or sometimes given her a new updated picture in a frame. It's always hard to know what to give someone who has all that they need and very little space in there home for more. However, over the past year Mom discovered a store near me that is an outlet store that carries the kind of shirts that she likes. So this year I decided to get her a shirt and see if I could make her a bracelet to match. This is a new found hobby of mine. Well as you can see below, I found the perfect beads to match her new shirt. And the shirt was to me, so like her, it was just the perfect gift.

So I started looking through my closet for a gift bag to recycle and give her the present in. As I was going through the bags, I thought back to my childhood. My grandmother had worked at Foleys and J.C.Pennys when she was younger and had learned the art of wrapping gifts. Infact she is the one who taught me how to make my Christmas wrapping turn out better than a wadded taped mess, lol. I remembered the beautiful paper and pretty bows and Dad having to help get the box open because of the tape and then reaching through the layers of tissue to see the most beautiful sweater or gorgeous tafetta dress. And as those memories flooded back to me I knew that I couldn't throw these specially picked items into a bag with pretty tissue. It needed to be wrapped in loving care with layers of tissue paper to enfold it and keep it wrapped neatly for her discovery. So I ran to the store and bought a matching blue paper. Nothing fancy, just simple and elegant like my Grandmother. I folded the shirt neatly with the bracelet laying on top into layers of tissue paper and wrapped the box and attached a squiggly pearlescent bow to the top and taped her card up underneath. I loved seeing my little Red all proud to be intrusted with such a pretty package, carrying it very carefully for a two year old to give it to his Grandmother. Well he didn't get that far. He gave it to his Great Uncle but he just knew it wasn't for him. Lol. So I guess my point is this, that yes, sometimes it's not the outside that is important but what's inside. But as we grow the outside becomes just as important as the inside.