For my grandmother's birthday earlier this month I sent her a window box with flowers and a poem. The flowers were her favorite shade- lavendar. The poem read of the bittersweet childhood memories I hold dear of her. One line simply states of a bird whom we called Red Fred. Long after her children had left the nest and the youngest of her grandchildren (my brother and I) had been born, mother nature sent her a friend. He was a small winter cardinal. Bright red feathers and friendly eyes. And each morning as she sipped her coffee next to the backyard kitchen window of her farmhouse, he would perch upon the windowsill and sit with her. And she shared him with me, this sweet little fellow. And she named him Red Fred. Needless to say his important cure of her lonliness leaves red birds treasured in her heart. And the poem touched her so deeply she wrote me a letter of gratitude which I recieved in the mail today. It has truly made my evening, my entire day. Heartfelt gifts not only touch the one who unwraps them, but the gift-giver as well.
