This morning I had my heart set on an ice coffee from the shop around the corner, but I knew it wouldn’t cost enough to meet the $3.00 credit card minimum, so I added one of their amazing pastries to my order. Since I had already eaten breakfast, I slid the apple-y delicious-ness into my lunchbox to save for tomorrow’s breakfast. When I got to work my co-worker mentioned that she needed to get something to eat, but wasn’t sure what she wanted. I immediately produced the “extra” pastry from my lunchbox and it was a match made in heaven.
Last week, one of my students gave me a card thanking me for all my help this semester and for being an important part of his academic journey.
Thinking about these two things I am struck by how easy those little tangible gifts are for me. A cup of coffee for a friend, a pack of gum for my husband; little things picked up as I move through my day. And I am humbled by my student’s decision to write a note; to pause for a few minutes and write about his gratefulness. Because in this world of clocks and deadlines and twitter feeds and status updates and quick coffee breaks it seems that sometimes we forget to pause and offer a genuine “thank you.”
Often, it is the best gift we can give.
That’s so touching. Sounds like you have a very beautiful personality. Keep it up!