Yesterday, I walked to the post office to mail a note to my friend Shanna, and while I was there, I decided to check my P.O. Box. When I opened my box, there was a small silver package tucked inside, and I chuckled when I saw that the package was from Shanna. Talk about serendipity! We're definitely on the same wavelength.
When I opened the package, I didn’t see anything inside, so I sent Shanna a photo of the parcel via text message and said:
Hi friend! Just went to the post office to mail you a card & found a package from you. There was nothing in it? Xoxo.
My intuition was screaming—do not throw this little package away. Dig deeper.
Shanna wrote me back immediately and a text message exchange ensued.
The mailer was double folded, and the gift was tucked inside tightly. I’m glad that I didn’t throw the package away because I would have been sad.
The parcel contained a lovely note and gorgeous necklace with a tiny Eiffel Tower encased in glass. Shanna told me to think of the necklace as a “. . . talisman, a good luck charm, a portent of things to come."
As I read Shanna’s note I started to happy-cry in the post office, and the tears continued to flow in the local drug store (I had to swing by for 3x5 cards). My tears garnered funny looks from fellow patrons, and that’s okay. They didn’t know about my thoughtful friend.
Physical gifts are lovely, but they aren’t a required part of friendship. Strong listening skills, compassion, and empathy are must haves—and Shanna has all of those things and more. She sees me, and still wants to be my friend.
In The Kindness Diaries Leon Logothetis said, "We just have to be willing to see each other. I see you, and you see me. Then the masks of who we think we should be fall away. And we greet one another in ways that need no language, that require no masks. We set out on the journey of life, getting to partake in this brief but beautiful adventure together."
With gratitude,
Tammy