Day 26 – A gift from your family

There was a tie for this one today... and both are actual things, items that I've received as gifts from a family member. But, since Auntie BAH is visiting right now and so very much front-of-mind, her sweet gift wins the race.

See, she's had this one bracelet, forever. Gorgeous large gold interlocking loops. For my entire childhood I don't remember ever seeing her without it on. And I wanted it. Bad. We'd joke that someday, very far off into the future, when she (God forbid) left this world, then I could have it. At some point, mid-college or so, I started teasing her saying that I didn't even want it anymore because she wears gold and I wear silver and so clearly this would never work out.

Fast forward to 2007 - BAH had just returned from a looooooooong trip to Australia (she doesn't fly and boats to and from Australia tend to take their time). We had a chance for a quick visit and, when I got home, I found a small green box tucked into my suitcase. Inside the box was this - the bracelet - but in silver, from a jeweler in Sydney. How sweet is she? To have a copy of the bracelet made for me in silver while on her trip?



I'll tell you how sweet she is... the bracelet she gave me is the original, not a copy.

When she first got it, as a bridesmaid gift in Australia before I was even born, it was made in silver. But she wears gold - remember? So she had it gold-plated 35+ years ago and has worn it ever since. On that last trip she asked the same Sydney jeweler to make her one in gold and to strip the plating off the original so that I could have my silver version. The bracelet she gave me is the exact same one she's worn all these decades, back to it's original color especially for me. She must have been planning that switcheroo for nearly as long as she was planning the trip & I love her dearly for it (and for so many other reasons!).

The tie was with a gift that my Mom sent, every February, like clockwork. A little red envelope would show up in the mail with instructions not to open it 'til Chinese New Year, lest I risk the bad luck of breaking into it ahead of schedule. There were always ten or twenty dollars in there, a small treat for the New Year (um, because we're clearly Chinese and tradition is everything!). I still get those envelopes each February. And, although Auntie BAH has never mentioned it, and I've never asked, I'm pretty sure I know who's sending them on my Mom's behalf. Only a sister would remember something like that and make sure that it still got done, even long after it was possible for my Mom to do it herself.

So I guess Auntie BAH wins for both versions of "best give from your family" today...