Jessie: In New Hampshire, enjoying being out of book jail!
This month we are talking about the unexpected. So, I wanted to ask you all if you have ever received an unexpected gift and if so, what was it?
Julie: I’m always delighted when people think of me. A friend made me a mask with Boston Red Sox fabric, and that delighted me. Another friend knew I like the edges of brownies, and sent me a pan that makes only edges out of the blue. I love that sort of gift–one that is thoughtful and helps you think of that person over time.
Edith: I got the unexpected gift of a lifetime from these very ladies last week. Malice Domestic had said they weren’t going to send the Agatha Award teapots in the mail, that they would award them next year. My dear Wickeds didn’t want me to have to go a whole year before getting my official teapot for Charity’s Burden. So they made me this unofficial one, with lettering by Jessie Crockett. When I unpacked it I cried for ten minutes!
Sherry: Edith, I’m so glad you love your gift. It was Jessie’s idea and a brilliant one. My husband is my unexpected gift and the gift that keeps on giving. He asked me to dance one night many years ago. I said no at first, but finally said yes. We’ll be married thirty years this fall.
Barb: We moved in mid-December the year I was in seventh grade. It’s a hard time to move a kid and I wasn’t graceful about it. When I came down on Christmas morning, my presents were a bright red quilt and a rocking chair that my father had painted. They were the first non-kid presents I’d ever received and I treasured them. The quilt disintegrated 20 years on, but I kept the rocking chair. It was in my son’s room when he was a baby and then in my daughter’s room. I repainted it at least once. I gave it to my son and his wife when my granddaughter was born. They don’t use it anymore. It never was very comfortable. But they’ve kept it so Viola can have her photo taken sitting on it every year on her birthday. For me, it’s the unexpected gift that keeps on giving.
Jessie: A couple of years ago my two youngest sons told me they were heading off to do some sort of errand one afternoon mid-week. I thought nothing of it until about an hour later when I was standing at my kitchen sink and a third son popped his head round the corner. The three of them had arranged for a surprise visit for my birthday. I was totally surprised and very touched!
Readers: What unexpected gift have you received or given?