An Embarrassment of Riches

When I was a little girl growing up in Dallas, I was mad about stickers. I collected them and kept them in a photo album. I never wanted to use them. I just wanted to look at them. My mom's best friend who lived in Austin had a daughter my age and we grew up together. Since she lived so far away, I would sometimes send her letters.  One day, I was debating whether to send her some of my beloved sticker collection.  I was feeling a little uncharitable and didn't want to share. My mom told me that I should because you never know what will happen. So, I reluctantly included several stickers from my collection in the envelope. A week later I received a letter from my friend filled with new stickers for my collection.  It taught me a valuable lesson. If you have a generosity of spirit and try to send good things out into the world, more often than not good things will come back to you.

It has been a hard couple of weeks but I have been surrounded and nurtured by friends far and near. Even friends that I have never met in person.  Not long ago, I joined the Vintage ABC swap. (more on that later)  The moderator of the swap, Marian, surprised me with the above package.  Marian and I have never met before but I have already been touched by HER generosity of spirit.  Her box of goodies have inspired me creatively and given me lots of new materials to work with.  This embarrassment of riches along with the many other moments of generosity and love I have experienced over the past few weeks is a good reminder about how blessed I really am.