Three Gifts

On a daily basis now, I am constantly in search of, and opening myself up to the gifts of joy I receive every day. Last week I received three gifts, all while at my full time job, and all within the same day. Three gifts that only a mother would appreciate. But they were three gifts that added to my already deep appreciation for mothers in and around my life. Here are my three gifts: A past employee of mine still keeps in touch with me even though she no longer works at my store. Before she left, she told me of her daughter's journey to conceive, and finally their decision to try invetro. She told me of the procedure, she kept me in touch with how she was doing, that it took successfully and her blood counts were on the rise. When she left she was three months along, and doing really well. When I got into work last week, I opened up my email, I saw in bold letters: I AM IN LOVE. Opening up the email, she shared with me her picture of her brand new, 3 weeks early but extremely healthy, baby granddaughter. This beautiful picture of mom and baby in each others arms. You could see and feel the journey that mom had been through in that picture, as it was all in her eyes and the look she gave to her perfect and beautiful daughter. This incredible gift of life given to her. But what an amazing gift to me-that she thought of me to send the email, and share her incredible news.   My second gift came at an unexpected moment. In trying to help a customer fix her brand new leather sofa, because her potty training 2 year old had taken a nap and had an accident while sleeping. She was frustrated and embarrassed, and it was I could do to calm her down. I told her, I too, have a 2 year old and understand what she is going through. We shared stories about our toddlers and laughed about all the joy and frustrations that can come on a daily basis with our children. At the end of the conversation, she felt confident that we would support her in mending her sofa and hopefully she felt a little better about keeping her patience and persistance with her toddler. I was happy that I could help her in that moment, and help her feel more at ease.   My third gift came later in the evening when I was selling on the sales floor. I heard this mom and daughter before I saw them. Her daughter was older, maybe 13, and she was speaking loudly and at random things. I greeted them as they came into view, and the mother turned and looked at me and very patiently said to me, " I am looking to buy some dining chairs." I said no problem, that I was happy to help. "I know what I need, because I need to make this quick." She said very slowly, "my daughter is autistic and we can't stay too long." I said I understood (even though I didn't) and I asked her to come with me to the counter. Her daughter stayed in her chair about 20 yards away and continued to call for her mom, yell at other customers, and even start to cry. I tried to make her sale as fast as possible while still convey the information and be respectful of the situation. She was gracious and calm, patient and kind. She listened to me and finished the sale. I thanked her for coming in and she thanked me for making it speedy. As she gathered her papers and went to turn around, I saw in her eyes her exhaustion: The constant patience she must possess for her daughter that needs that from her at every moment. I've never seen such a deep love and yet a deeper exhaustion than what I saw in her eyes. She walked back to her daughter, who continued to talk and ask questions and call out, and as I watched them go down the escalator she just so beautifully and kindly spoke to her daughter and calmed her down. In that moment I had to wrap my mind around the fact that it was constant. From sunrise to bedtime, it was a constant patience that I will never understand unless I am in that situation. Her energy was constant, her speech was constant, everything about that beautiful little girl was constant. And her mother just simply gave. Gave her unconditional, unwavering, jump in front of a train kind of love. It brought tears to my eyes. Gifts don't always come so nicely wrapped. I choose to see the gifts in my life as lessons, people, conversations and just simply joy that makes my heart sing a little more.