A Priceless Gift

It wasn’t an ordinary day. Actually it was especially special - Diana’s birthday. We were all seated at in the breakfast nook enjoying the early morning meal when I looked across the street and saw a small backhoe digging a ditch in my neighbor’s yard. Talk about perfect timing. We had needed a gas line dug for months. In a moment I was out the door, arranging the work and negotiating the price. It turned out to be the perfect birthday gift.

That was last year though, and I needed something just as nice for this year. Then a few days ago without prior planning, we had a friend over to do some fix-it projects. Our basement commode was worn out and needed replacing. As it turned out we went to Lowes to pick up a new one on Diana’s birthday.   The American Standard, white, elongated, water saving model was once again just the right gift. As if that wasn’t good enough I also got her a very nice albeit very used compost bin.

 

So who is this lady who is graced with such special gifts?  Diana and I met in Bible College, she the daughter of a pastor, I the son of a millwright factory worker.  The summer before our senior year she worked in Humbolt Park, a notorious Chicago neighborhood infested with rats, gangs and drug dealers.  She returned to school in the fall radiant, and I was smitten.

 

Our first date was a church picnic with everything about that September fall day being perfect.  We spent every minute together, feasting on the food, hanging out with friends, playing softball and talking the afternoon away.  Months later someone asked about our first date.  When I told them it was the picnic, Diana balked.  “That wasn’t our first date,” she insisted.  I assured her in my mind and in my intention it was.  “I wondered why you were hanging around all day” she said, “I thought you were just offering me a ride.”  She ended up getting the ride of her life.  I on the other hand got a priceless gift. 

 

So what about next year’s gift? Suggestions are welcome, but I’m thinking along the lines of garden tools, paint, a plumbers snake or a new sewer line.