Special gift

The best gifts are the ones you get when you’re least expecting it.

We were at M’s parents’ home for dinner last night. They’re off on a ten week trip to Europe today, so it was a have-a-great-time kind of dinner. M’s sister J was there with her family. It was good to sit around and chat with the adults and watch Warner Brothers cartoons with the kids.

For much of the evening J’s daughter T was working on a couple of paper dolls. There was much cutting, colouring in, dressing and the pièce de résistance – the hairstyles of the dolls, each strand of which T cut and attached to the dolls’ heads painstakingly with sticky tape. We watched her select colours to add detail, cut out the dolls’ costumes and dress them, and hack away at the twine – the scissors she was using weren’t that sharp. She was so focussed she even refused her dinner until she was done.

I didn’t think anything of it. T’s always drawing or making things and loves art work of any sort. So when she finally finished and came up to me and handed me the big doll saying “This is for you!” I was completely stunned. She spent all that time making it, and then she gave it to me!

Back view of the bigger doll. Note the hair. I don’t think I have ever had a handmade doll before! I seem to recall that when I played with paper dollies as a child the extent of my creativity was deciding what costumes to give them – I don’t think I ever actually made my own from scratch.

Before we all left for home, T gave me the little doll as well. I’m still touched and stunned by the gesture. They are very beautiful dolls. T’s given me a picture before, and I treasure that, too.

Categories: gift