Back in the day Elizabeth wrapped all my Christmas presents. This was after Santa Claus and pre-Sutton. She like doing it, and I appreciated her completing a task I wasn’t very good at. I was ten thumbs and she was precision. It was a perfect match. The first couple of years after her move to California, I waited for her return to Michigan for Christmas. Our Christmas reunion brought the five of us together again. We got to see her, and she provided me with a valuable service. Almost twenty-years have past since her wrapping days ended. It’s a Christmas tradition I miss.
Eva has been in Florida for a few days, and she’s done a great job of picking up where Elizabeth left off. She recently helped Ruth wrap presents (I’ve already wrapped mine.) While she was wrapping, she took me back to the days when Elizabeth worked for me. I took her picture and sent it to Elizabeth to see if it reminded her of anyone. It did.
If I don’t study the picture in detail, I see Elizabeth back when, she too, was thirteen and a willing Christmas helper.
Earlier that day, Eva and Ruth went shopping. Eva bought gifts for Brady and her mom and dad. When they got back to the house, the wrapping began. Ruth recruited Eva to wrap her presents while she wrapped her own. Shortly after the project began, Ruth discovered that one of the gifts was missing. She and Eva searched high and low, but their efforts failed. They looked everywhere. Ruth even returned to the car to see if it might have fallen out of one of the bags. No luck.
Ruth checked the receipt to make sure that they had actually made the purchase. They had. The receipt confirmed the sale. After exhausting all of her options, Ruth called the store to see if it might have accidently been left behind. She called three times and received the same, “We’re busy helping others, please call back later.” Sensing her frustration, I suggested she return to the store to check in person. After all, it was only a ten minute trip. “Eva is busy wrapping, so you might as well get this resolved tonight.”
She returned about thirty-five minutes later. The store clerk had been very helpful. After searching the check-out area the clerk asked Ruth if she had done a thorough search of the car, so Ruth did a double check, including under the seats. She did find some loose change and a bag with some leftover sliced cheese from our trip down to Florida four weeks ago, but no new package. After the search for the gift was deemed unsuccessful, the clerk refunded Ruth’s money. She vowed to continue the search saying, “Perhaps the cleaning staff located it and took it to the back room for safe keeping. If we find it, I’ll give you a call.”
Eva was still busily wrapping, and I was talking on the phone, when Ruth returned to share her tale. As I turned to see her entering the house, I noted a small box lying on the couch. I continued my conversation, but picked up the box and offered it to Ruth. It was, indeed, the missing gift.
After I completed my call, Ruth shared her encounter with the helpful store clerk. “I’ve got to go back and pay for it. I feel so silly.” As she shared her encounter, we finished preparing dinner. After dinner, we listened to music and danced a bit. It was really quite fun. During our “dance party”, Ruth’s phone rang. Ruth didn’t pick up the call so she listened to her voicemail message about an hour later. When she hit the “play” button, this is what she heard.
“Hello Ruth, this is Mary from xyz. I have good news! We found your package! We’re open until ten so you can pick it up tonight if you like. If not, I’ll set it aside with a note for the morning crew. It’ll be waiting for you.”
Glory of glories! Not only did I find the original package on our couch, the clerk found a duplicate in the store. What are the odds of that! After speculating what the second box might contain, I asked Ruth what she planned to do. “Are you going to pick up the second package, or simply return to re-pay for box number one?” She opted for the latter.
Life is full of unexpected twists and turns. That’s what makes it interesting and, sometimes, miraculous.