Passing On the Joy

When He-man and I were in Wyoming we celebrated Cautious' eighth birthday.  Nothing fancy, just family gathered round a table, eating chili (Cautious' choice for dinner), telling of our days and watching an excited little girl open decorated bags and boxes. 

Cautious loves to shop at second-hand stores.  She goes for the vintage and what is now popularly known as "Granny Chic."  And yet she adores pink tutus, frilly head bands, barbie dolls and all kinds of accessories.  While we were shopping at such a store, Cautious eyed a pair of authentic ballet toe shoes and she begged her mother to buy them for her.  TD said that it was too close to her birthday to buy anything and that Cautious would just have to be patient and wait to see what gifts she might get on her birthday.  Oh boy.... waiting is hard for me.  But to watch and over-anxious about-to-be-eight-year-old wait for present opening day was way more difficult.  I so wanted to slip those ballet shoes in my purse (after paying for them, of course) and sneak out the door.  But I obeyed her mother.  Sigh.

And mom was right.  It was good to wait.  For the reaction I witnessed from Cautious' when opening her mother and father's gift was priceless - something that would have been terribly watered down if TD had given the ballet shoes to Cautious the day she asked for them in the store.  
 
 






Even though the shoes were too big for Cautious she had to give them a whirl immediately after the surprise was let out of the bag. 

As she moved from one present to the next her joy increased.  Of course it's fun to be showered with gifts and to have a day that is especially for you... but what moved me most about this particular celebration was the generosity of those giving and the way it made Cautious smile from her toes up to her head.  
 


Every inch of her body was immersed in a joy giggle. This kind of joy is uncontrollably contagious.  

As He-man, Sparky, Muffin, Z, TD and I stood watching we found our mouth muscles turned in a high upward swing and our hearts singing a little tune even before the Happy Birthday chorus.

Seems that Sunshine had sent Cautious her old DSI - a hand held digital interactive game player.  Sunshine had received it for Christmas the year before and she knew that Cautious wanted one too.  Although the DSI was used it looked brand new, because Sunshine loved it so much she had kept it like one would a precious treasure... making sure all the game cartridges were in their rightful pocket of the carrying case... keeping the tiny stylus pencil in it's appointed slot and not leaving it lying about in a disordered heap.  The DSI was one of Sunshine's precious possessions.  And yet she gave it away to Cautious.  

The great thing about giving generously from the heart is that it spreads wide.  We all got a gift the evening of Cautious birthday party.  Mom's wisdom and calm lead the way to a kitchen filled with delight and gladness.  Sunshine's gift of surrendering her treasure to another humbly touched our hearts and transformed a simple birthday party into a holy sacrament.

2. Right now I am grateful for the family I adore.  I am grateful that they care about each other's happiness - that while things are fun to have, making each other smile is  better.

I hope your day is good.  I hope you are surprised by your patience.  I hope someone wants to make you smile.