love thursday: big gifts from little ones
Anyone away from most family and friends probably appreciates postal deliveries more than just about anything in life. I’m no different.
I love getting any letter or package, but it’s particularly special when I receive something from my niece and nephew back in the States. Knowing that they still think of me in between soccer and baseball, school and birthday parties, iPods and whatever else it is kids play with these days? Warms my heart and, quite often, makes me downright giddy.
You may remember reading that Mia, my niece, had sent me a postcard from Disney. It arrived!
The other side of the cartolina is a family picture in front of Epcot, but I won’t post it because I haven’t asked permission. You’ll just have to trust me that it’s adorable.
Of course I save everything my niece and nephew have sent me. Here’s a collection of some of the older stuff, drawings when they were both a few years younger:
But it’s not limited to just drawings. They also send me little gifts that they’ve picked up here and there (usually with the help of Nana) that somehow remind me of them.
From left to right: Gangster Bean, a giraffe pin, and a little ceramic owl.
For the record, I’m never doing a photo shoot with a bean, a giraffe, and an owl again. You see how they all refused to look at the camera?
The Gangster Bean came about because before I left to come here, my nephew Michael was big into the Mighty Beanz. A list of all the beans, er, beanz came with the packets, and I told him about my affinity for Gangster Bean (go figure). So when he got his hands on this guy, he sent it off to me.
The giraffe is because I love giraffes, and my niece knows that. So one day while out at yard sales with Nana and Mommy, she saw this and knew I would love it. And I do.
The ceramic owl was gifted during the time of Filippo and Filippa, the wild owls that we raised for a little while. Isn’t it a hoot? Hah!
I display their letters, pictures, drawings, and gifts throughout my house, and everyone always asks about them, their names, how old they are, etc.
And you know is always the most interested? Other children. When P’s nieces and nephews or kids from the village come around, they zero on anything related to Michael and Mia (especially their blond hair!) and ask, above all, when they’re coming to visit.
I can’t wait for the day that they come and can meet all the people who already know so much about them. And somehow I don’t think the language barrier is going to make a bit of difference.
Hearts seem to have a language of their own.
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
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[tags]love thursday, giraffes, mighty beanz, gangster bean, owls, children’s drawings[/tags]
25 Beans of Wisdom to “love thursday: big gifts from little ones”
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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Pressies in the post are the best. Coming from your neice and nephew makes it even sweeter.
My mom use to collect giraffes.(First the schnitzel & now childhood memories, mmhhh??) I remember her having various giraffe collectibles. I think they are amazingly beautiful and graceful in their own right.
I deeply love your giraffe, although I have never had a particular thing for them. Like their eyes and lashes, though.
I would use it to close a big pashmina and keep it where I wanted it.
Happy Love Thursday. The gifts are sweet reminders of those you love.
That is a great surprise! I wish Cole knew how to get to your blog so he’d get the hint.
Actually, though, if he sent presents that would mean he misses me and only add to my guilt – so I remain still guilty and gift-less.
Oh well, can I touch your owl??
For the record, I’m never doing a photo shoot with a bean, a giraffe, and an owl again. You see how they all refused to look at the camera?
Heh. The photographer in me got stuck on this for a good minute, trying to think about how I would position the tchotchkes so that the camera would catch their direct gaze. Then I realized what I was doing and gave it up.
For the record, I love the Gangster Bean, without having the slightest idea what it’s all about.
Getting stuff in the mail, especially from little ones, is always a treat!
You are such a great aunt! I bet your niece and nephew are so proud of the fact that you save everything that they send to you. They send you stuff because they know you appreciate it.
Aw what a nice post! The pics and presents are lovely as well! Yeah, the Gangster Bean does rock the most though haha.
Awwww, so sweet. So special that they’re thinking of you often and wondering what they can send to remind you that they know you’re special. May you have a reminder of that from someone every day.
Happy LT.
“For the record, I’m never doing a photo shoot with a bean, a giraffe, and an owl again. You see how they all refused to look at the camera?”
Okay, this had me laughing out loud…I thoroughly enjoy your sense of humor!
Cheeky, ooh! Another giraffe lover! Glad to spark more fun thoughts 🙂
Judith, excellent idea. Now if only my niece would send me a pashmina….
Poppy, Happy Love Thursday to you as well 🙂
Cherrye, yes, it’s a double-edged sword. The guilt definitely sets in after reading “When are you coming home?” so many times.
Sara, a little secret. I got one set up so that the owl was looking, but the the bean kept turning (he’s magnetic on the bottom, so he was, um, drawn to the giraffe). So instead of having just one behaving, I thought it was best to have them all looking off wistfully in the distance. Or something like that.
Kristen, I completely agree 🙂
Bongga mom, well I try to be the best aunt I can from here; I’m just happy they still remember me!
Bec, isn’t the Gangster Bean adorable? He has a cigar in his mouth for goodness’ sake!
Pastormac’s Ann, thank you for your lovely sentiments, and Happy LT to you as well 🙂
Kali, thanks, but it’s the truth!
Oops, just realized Gangster Bean has a cigar in his hand, not his mouth. Still pretty funny though, right?
So what happened to the little owls Filippo and Filippa?
Anon, they were released into the wild; we hear them more than we see them, but we think they’re both still around.
I understand about the love of mail. When I was half way across the world from my family for 5 months, I checked the mail frequently and filled my room with drawings from my niece.
This is really sweet.
Tabitha, thanks for stopping by! Isn’t a room wallpapered with children’s drawings just the best?!
Yes, they do. What a charming post.
Thanks Hearts! Glad to have you around 🙂
Ah such a lovely post! We share a love of giraffes, when we go to the game reserve they are always my favourite – they are so gentle and graceful, yet ungainly at the same time!
Gill, another giraffe lover! Yeah! Thanks for reading this 🙂
Oh, that is so sweet… I can’t wait for Olive to start doing things like that for her aunts & uncles (and me!!).
There is something about receiving snail mail from loved ones that has no comparison, and when it comes from a child? Even better. My cousin’s daughter, Brainiac, occasionaly sends me a drawing she did, and it just makes my day to come home to a piece of her artwork.
Your comment about taking a picture of a Bean, Owl and Giraffe, was hillarious!
*Miss Eliza, you and they are going to love it 🙂
*Karina, I just love kid’s art; so heartwarming 🙂
They must love you so much. Children are so sincere in their thoughts and actions, even when they are naughty, don’t you think?
Andie, yes, children *do* have a way of being sincere–sometimes that’s not the best thing, but it’s always there 😉